God is Sovereign

“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10a)

Now that is a great idea. Why is peaceful meditation and individual worship so hard for me?

For instance, as I visited several blogs over the holidays, I envied women who reported sitting on the sofa all day in their PJs, eating goodies, enjoying their kids, reading or watching movies. I marveled at their ability to let go of the “ought to’s” and “should’s.” My thoughts say, “Sure, you can take the day off from laundry, but is the price you’ll pay tomorrow worth it?” And so off I go.

My life totally has room for this kind of relaxation, but my brain doesn’t. I have trouble being 100% in any moment, whether at work, at home, at church, on vacation or even watching a movie.

From the moment—the instant—I’m conscious each morning, my thoughts are rolling and roaring like ocean waves, tossing about the priorities of the day and the consequences if I fail.

I am so task-oriented that I have trouble tearing myself away from the computer at work when a friend drops by or my husband calls, or even when my supervisor needs to talk to me!

Dr. Gerald May (Addiction and Grace) says it’s quite possible to become addicted to stress. For one thing, stress causes the release of two hormones that we are all familiar with: the feel-good endorphins and the energy-surging adrenaline. If you have chronic stress in your life, such as caring for an ill loved one, or if you are naturally wired to be a little more rattled than others, your body adapts and accepts the heightened state of those hormones as the normal state of being. When you slow down and try to have a stress-free moment, your body simply doesn’t know how.

And that’s the biological perspective. Here's the spiritual perspective according to May:

… the simple matter of taking time for daily prayer can become a battle of the will excruciatingly reminiscent of that encountered in chemical addiction. The mind can generate wondrous excuses to do something instead of just being open and present. The struggles that go on between being and doing can be awesome.

In this new year, one of my goals is to make an effort to focus on the sovereignty of God. Notice I did not say “to worry less” or “be in the moment” or “trust God more” or even “read the Bible more.” While these initiatives are good, for me, they simply amount to another stress-promoting list to tackle.

I will make headway in this challenging aspect of my personality only by focusing on how big God is, on how the universe is his, and on how my self-worth has been validated solely by his decision to create me.

Being still may never be easy for me. Nevertheless, in the morning and in the evening, when my thoughts are crashing and rolling and threatening to drown me, I will repeat, “But God is sovereign.”

It is only by his power that I exist and am able to do the smallest thing. Just saying, “God is sovereign” releases pressure. It takes the focus off me and puts it on God, which is the heart of worship.

My hope and prayer is that the entire chapter of Psalm 46 will become the new endorphin-producing, Holy Spirit-calming force in my life.

1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

Attachments or addictions to anything in life can be strong, but God is stronger. After all, He is Sovereign.



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