by Gary Henry<\/p>\n
“Be still, and know that I am God<\/em>” (Psalms 46:10).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Nowadays, one reason we know so little about joy is that we know so little about stillness. In this age of the world, most of us are busy with a myriad of priorities and projects. And we pride ourselves in it. The person whose schedule is packed has more prestige than the fellow who “doesn’t have much to do.” But joy – real joy – is in seriously short supply.<\/p>\n
We’ll try to define “stillness” in a moment, but just think, by way of contrast, how unlikely it would be for joy to surface in the kind of lives we lead. Our “busyness” produces so much clamor and clatter, the voice of joy is drowned out. It simply gets lost in the shuffle. Even if joy were to appear, it would go unnoticed.<\/p>\n
But what does it mean to be “still” before the Lord? It doesn’t mean being physically still, though the stillness of the body is often involved. And it doesn’t mean not saying anything, though that is often involved as well. “Stillness” before God means reverence, humility, openness, and forgetfulness of self. It means putting our minds into a thoughtful posture. It means having our activity stilled and our words hushed by a compelling sense of the power of God Almighty. Above all, it means having a servant’s readiness to obey: “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears<\/em>” (I Samuel 3:9).<\/p>\n
I suggest that it would be rare for a person to experience genuine joy if he or she were not mentally disposed of in the manner we’ve just described. That is the only kind of environment in which real joy can make an appearance. Just as happiness eludes those who “pursue” it, joy is even harder to bring under our own power. It doesn’t come “on command,” but rather it is experienced, often quite unexpectedly, by those who are “still” before the Lord. Unstill people are simply not good candidates for joy.<\/p>\n
So God’s instruction to us is this: Be still, and know that I am God. We shouldn’t obey that instruction selfishly, simply so we can have the joy we want. Nevertheless, we won’t have any joy if we don’t obey it. Without a reverent stillness at the center of our hearts, joy has no chance to break through the noise of earthly life. Of all the killjoys in the world, irreverent busyness is the worst.<\/p>\n
“The heart that is to be filled to the brim with holy joy must be held still” (George Bowes).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Gary Henry “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalms 46:10). Nowadays, one reason we know so little about joy is that we know so little about stillness. In this age of the world, most of us are busy with a myriad of priorities and projects. And we pride ourselves in it. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[374,1287,454],"class_list":["post-41846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-happiness","tag-joy","tag-peace"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":66835,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/that-your-joy-may-be-full\/","url_meta":{"origin":41846,"position":0},"title":"That Your Joy May Be Full","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Jesus prayed that those who would become His disciples would have a joy that is full (John 17:13; 15:11-13; 16:22). It would come through knowing the truth of the apostle's eyewitness testimony of Jesus which provided the basis for the conviction that Jesus addresses our need\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61721,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/count-it-all-joy\/","url_meta":{"origin":41846,"position":1},"title":"Count It All Joy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton It's not what happens to you that matters so much as what you do with what happens to you. Who would have thought that Helen Keller would have mattered so much with all the handicaps she was dealt in life? Great people of great faith learn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53442,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-joy-of-obedience\/","url_meta":{"origin":41846,"position":2},"title":"The Joy of Obedience","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Peter 1:3-9 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Despite the persecutions Christians faced in the first century, there was joy - I Peter 1:3-9 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A great joy, an inexpressible joy, was had knowing that they were saved \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That joy overrode all the hardships of life II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This attitude is strange\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42114,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-can-i-do-to-find-joy-in-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":41846,"position":3},"title":"What can I do to find joy in Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I'm a young, desperate man (I am 15 years old). In my country most people are Catholic. I hold Protestant views and even though my father visits the Catholic service, I go to the Protestant service on Sunday. Since I have been saved last fall, there is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63273,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sowing-in-tears-reaping-in-joy\/","url_meta":{"origin":41846,"position":4},"title":"Sowing in Tears, Reaping in Joy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalm 126 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Psalm 126 is one of a series of psalms devoted to the return of the Israelites from captivity. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The sadness of the captivity made the joy of return to freedom so much greater. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is the end of this psalm which captures\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37056,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-heart-was-full-of-joy-visiting-your-website\/","url_meta":{"origin":41846,"position":5},"title":"My heart was full of joy visiting your website","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My heart was full of joy visiting your website, and I was blessed and encouraged so much. Thanks. Answer: Thank you for the kind encouragement.","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}