Be Still & Know

A few years back, our family was in our backyard making s’mores over our firepit with some friends. After finishing their s’mores, our kids set down their roasting sticks and ran off to play.

About thirty minutes later, our middle daughter came running to my wife and me, screaming and in pain. We peppered her with questions trying to figure out what was wrong.

She didn't know how to describe the pain. All she could do was grab her calf and say that it hurt. After a few more questions, we realized she had a cramp. This was a new experience for her as she had never had a cramp before. We set her on the ground and started to stretch her leg to make the pain go away.

As we stretched her leg, our friend tried to empathize with our daughter. He said that sometimes he gets cramps in the middle of the night and has to stretch his leg to make the pain go away. He was trying to help our daughter see that leg cramps are common and nothing to fear, but his comment backfired. Suddenly, my daughter was afraid that the pain would return, especially in the middle of the night when she least expected it. It paralyzed her with fear.

No matter our stage of life, we all face things that are scary and beyond our control. Psalm 46 names this. The psalmist describes the earth as a dangerous place. He writes, "Though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging… Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall" (v2-3, 6).

Even though there are many things in this world to fear, the psalm's tone is peace. And the place of peace toward which we should run is the Lord. The psalmist writes that the Lord is our "refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble" (v1). Therefore, the psalm encourages us to be still and know that God is Lord over all the earth.

Though the pain of my daughter's cramp had gone away, the comment from my friend reignited her fear, and she jumped into my lap. She kept saying, "I'm scared. I don't want the pain to come back. I don't want it to happen when I sleep." At that moment, I had become her place of refuge. I encouraged her to be still and rest in my arms. I stroked her hair and instructed her to take deep breaths to calm down. I told her that her cramp would most likely not come back. She kept asking, "But how do you know?!" I encouraged her to trust me and believe that I knew more than she did.

After a few minutes, her whimpering stopped, and she simply sat on my lap. I could feel the tension and fear leave her body as I continued the conversation with my friend. And when my daughter was ready, she slipped off my lap and joined her sisters.

In moments of fear and pain, the place we should turn is the Lord. He is our ever-present help in times of trouble. In His arms, all we have to do is be still and know that He is God.