Be Still, and Know

Come rest your head upon His breast

Listen to the rhythm of

His unfailing heart of love

Steven Curtis Chapman ~ “Be Still, and Know” 

(CCLI Song # 2758912; CCLI License # 1252648)

My lower back sank deep into an old couch in an unlit wood paneled room. The young woman sitting next to me held my hand as we listened to music and talked. Suddenly, she let out a quiet squeal as if someone startled her. “What is it?” I asked. She pulled my hand to her belly, saying, “I just felt the first flutter.” It was the first movement of our baby growing in her womb. 

A few weeks later, we were in an obstetrician’s office listening to the little tugboat sound of the baby’s heartbeat — “chug-chug-chug-chug-chug.” I marveled at the sound as I imagined my bride’s heart beating stronger and slower just a few inches above; the steady whoosh of air entering and exiting her lungs as her diaphragm gentle, rhythmic rocking of the tiny child inside her. My wife’s heart pumped life-giving blood through her body and the baby’s. The baby’s life depended upon the rhythm and flow of its mother’s life. 

When God birthed creation by the Word of His heart and mind, a barely perceptible flutter preceded the rhythm of life we so often take for granted. Creation utterly depends on the heartbeat of the LORD and the tempo of His breath, the Holy Spirit. God’s blood pulses through all creation, sustaining and ordering it with cosmic harmony. Like the baby in a mother’s womb, all creation rocks gently within the LORD’s deepest being. He is the creator and sustainer in whom we live and move and have our being (see Psalm 104, Acts 17:28). 

God’s Enemy is the author of chaos and oppression. He would have you believe that being carved in the palm of God’s hand (Isaiah 49:16) is unfair confinement. He would tempt you to view the LORD’s rhythms and patterns as restrictive limits. But, the baby who rejects the sustenance of the one upon whom its life depends dies. When the child is ready, the mother pushes it from within her to live into its own breath and heartbeat, body and mind. The child is the image of the parents and yet she is synced rhythmically with them. 

Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son illustrates the LORD’s pain and loss at losing one who was part of His very being and then regaining him through repentance and grace that lead to new life and harmony. (Luke 15:11-32) Therefore, when you feel out of step with any aspect of creation, it is a sign of dissonance. It can be because of sickness in the body, mind, or spirit. In that moment of reckoning, stop. Be still and listen to rhythmic sounds wherever you are. Watch the rhythm of light and movement. Feel the rising and falling of your chest as you breathe; the pulse in your wrist or neck. Then, pray in sync with the rhythms saying something like, “LORD, I am still, and I know you are God.” “I repent of too much dissonance” “I want to come home” “Hold me close” “Beat and breath threw me.”  

Embrace rhythm as you seek harmony with God, and each other and you will notice His heartbeat everywhere. Consider the amazing relationship we all have with music, especially percussion. See how we cannot resist the urge to keep time with fingers, toes, and bobbing heads. Isn’t it amazing how the LORD’s rhythms affect the tribal drums of pagans? Even those who do not know the true Creator feel his thrumming pulse. The most primitive peoples felt the cadence of God’s creation and mimicked by beating logs and stretched animal hides as they swayed and hummed in resonance with God’s myriad frequencies. Magnificent orchestral works use vibrating strings, buzzing lips, and intricate tempos undergirded by drums, symbols, wood. A noisy punk band or metal rock band relies on electrical impulses, vibrating strings, pounding drumbeats and varying vocal ranges. The celestial throng joins even the one who sings or whistles in solitude as all echo the Creator’s heart and breath. God’s majestic grace and sustaining rhythms burst from His being so that even those who reject Him reflect Him. Their rhythms are echoes of God reverberating from outside space and time. How much better will it be when we join the LORD of the dance? The One who gave all that only He could give to bring you back into harmony with Him is He “who laid [earth’s] cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy.” (Job 38:7)