In his gospel account, Mark covers what is arguably one of the more wild events in the life of Jesus. Aside from the resurrection, of course.
“Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus. Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He said this because he didn’t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly, when they looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus with them.” (Mark 9:2-8)
It’s an incredible story in its own right, but what struck me in my latest read through was Peter and his response to the whole event. Peter, absolute genius that he is, chooses this moment to step forward and speak up. Jesus is transfigured, light is beaming out everywhere, two of the most famous figures from the Old Testament have appeared out of nowhere and this is the moment Peter thinks his input is needed.
It’s a pretty cringeworthy moment, especially when I consider that I probably would have bumbled my way into doing the exact same thing. There is just something about us as humans that has us thinking we have to respond and act and do at all times. The truth of the matter is we don’t. In a world that screams “Do!”, so often God is calling us to “Be!” There is a huge difference between the two.
Not everything requires a response from us. Sometimes, the stillness and awe from us is the response God is after. He isn’t after our reaction, he’s looking for our response and response more often than not requires more action from him than us.
It’s no accident that scripture tells us over and over again to “Be still”. We miss this all the time. Somewhere in all our inward examinations we miss our hurry. Sometimes we even head in the opposite direction and think, like Peter, that we need to be doing more.
Trust me, inaction is not our chief problem.
It is entirely possible for us to hurry ourselves out of the wonder and appreciation of what God is doing in our lives. The command to “Be still” is not a bland suggestion to just chill out and hang. It’s a firm command to stop what you’re doing and let the weight and majesty of who God is rest on you.
We have to stop running at a thousand miles an hour and sit with the knowledge that God is, in fact, God. It may feel foreign at first if we are deeply out of practice with stillness, but the results are spectacular. Stillness ushers in reverence. It gets us listening to God’s voice instead of frantically searching for the next thing we’re supposed to be doing. Stillness gets us to actually have a relationship with God instead of treating him like we would a boss. And God’s not interested in being reduced to our boss.
There’s a great deal of wonder to be had in our relationship with God, if we can just slow ourselves down and be still like he asks. Our stillness is everything, and we need it more than we know.
Let’s find some joy,
A
Avalon Robinson Author 