Exodus 17:12 But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

Last night while beginning our study of Hebrews I was trying to be ever so clever with words. I declared that Hebrews was a comparative narrative. Loving words as I do it seemed appropriate. Sometimes I do learn things by comparing the use of words translated from the Hebrew and Greek that have the same English meaning yet meant something else then.

Stayed has been weighing on my minds lately. So I did the comparative narrative on stayed. In the Hebrew it is to grasp, lay hands on. In some cases it is used to indicate to keep captive, tie down, stake out or pen up. It is restrictive in nature, keeps one from wandering off.

The use in the Greek is not as frequent but one of the uses was rather delightful to be found. It is used to check a ships heading, to make course corrections. The difference between the two is freedom. In the Old Testament usage there is a binding force. In the New Testament there is a compelling force. The freedom to choose your heading and make course corrections requires a cooperative effort.

The OT says do or die. The NT says I love you and set you free, will you love me and follow me? Love does not demand, it hopes.

1 Corinthians 13:5 It ^(love)does not insist on its own way; it ^(love)is not irritable or resentful; (ESV)

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

The anesthesiologist said to me, “I am going to insert this needle into your spine and administer the anesthesia now. Be still.” The words scared me, I froze in fear. “Relax. You are tensing up your muscles and making it more difficult for me.”

The instruction “be still” did not produce the desired reaction. There is more to being still than just not moving. I had to trust someone I did not know. My back was to him, I had not even made eye contact. The doctor told me what he was about to do and that caused me to be tense.

Psalm 46 does not say what God will do, only that God will be exalted. No instruction is given, so how can we do anything but be still? Perhaps God doesn’t tell us what He is about to do because He doesn’t want us to be tense. Tension is a sign of lack of trust. It causes hesitation, stiffness and can result in the shakes.

Being still is perhaps one of the hardest things to do as a Christian. We are servants looking to serve. We are followers seeking to move. We have a calling and we want to respond. If we are not doing something, we feel unused. For most of us, we do not get to “be still” because in those moments God reveals Himself in power and majesty, He becomes exalted.

For most of us being still is only accomplished in our prayer closets. There God can speak to us in the quietness of our minds. That is so hard to do. The only thing busier than our hands and feet is our minds. Be still, do not be so tense, relax, trust, know God. Practice being still in your quiet time and perhaps, just maybe, God will ask you to “be still” outside the closet.

2 Samuel 22:31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.