PSALM 46:1-11
"I'm outta here!" Most of us will feel this way at some point in our lives. When stress in daily living becomes unbearable, we want to escape. We may want out of jobs, relationships, or some other difficult situation. We think we can't handle things the way they are because they are much too stressful. So we decide we are walking out. Moving on. Heading for anywhere but where we are.
God has a powerful truth for us to hear. The way to handle stressful situations is to cease fighting against them and instead to be at rest. To the psalmist, this rest meant being still and knowing God. (Psalm 46:10 NIV) Jesus described it as a peacefulness that we will both find and receive as we spend time learning from Him. (Matthew 11:28-30) Our human instinct clamors for us to escape but God calls us to draw near and absorb the truths of Scripture.
Most of all, He wants us to know who He is. As we believe the truth of His sovereignty (1 Chronicles 29:11) and accept both the absolute goodness of His plans (Jeremiah 29:11) and His deep, abiding love for us (Ephesians 3:17-19), we will grow in trust. Then we will find it easier to "be still" and not to respond like the world, which says, "I'm outta here."
Our stress need not become distress. With an accurate understanding of our heavenly Father, we will be able to walk through circumstances with an inner quietness (Galatians 5:22) and genuine confidence. (Hebrews 13:6) This is our privilege as God's children.
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Charles Frazier Stanley was born September 25, 1932, in the small town of Dry Fork, Virginia. The only child of Charley and Rebecca Stanley, Charles came into the world during a time when the entire nation felt the grip of the Great Depression. To make matters worse, just nine months later, his father Charley died at the young age of 29.
However, Charles refused to let the Great Depression or the difficulties of his life define him. Instead, like his father and grandfather before him, he clung to God’s Word and took up the mantle to preach the gospel to whoever would listen.
Dr. Stanley’s motivation is best represented by the truth found in Acts 20:24, “Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God's mighty kindness and love.” This is because, as he says, “It is the Word of God and the work of God that changes people’s lives.”
Dr. Stanley’s teachings can be heard weekly at First Baptist Church Atlanta, daily on “In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley” radio and television broadcasts on more than 2,800 stations around the world, on the Internet at intouch.org, through the In Touch Messenger, and in the monthly, award-winning In Touch magazine.