Be Still My Soul

Verse 1 – Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side; bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and to provide; in every change He faithful will remain. Be still my soul! Thy best, thy heavenly Friend, through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Paraphrase: Be still my soul: Be quiet, and listen, hear it? Listen for God’s still small voice. Why? Because He is on my side, at my side, living in me, always with me, never to leave me. I am not alone in anything or at anytime. With patience, I can stand firm even in the most painful of situations or circumstances. Stand firm in what? What He says is true. The fact that my Jesus, my Savior, accomplished for me the ultimate victory over death, PAIN, GRIEF, LOSS, through the CROSS HE BORE…for me. I have Jesus, my Savior who sits at the right hand of God pleading on my behalf, because of the love of God for me. I have the Spirit of God who groans unutterable words on my behalf as I bear whatever cross of grief or pain that He is totally aware of! Patiently waiting for God’s intervening grace and comfort, I am not alone! I am growing to actually like this phrase of this truly great song…leave to thy God… Whatever is the source of my grief or pain or loss, I can leave it to my God! I can be still…and know that He is God…and I am not! He knows what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and why it should be done. He not only sees the big picture, He is the Creator of the canvas and supplies all the artwork! He is creating a masterpiece…using me, for His glory, His pleasure! I have the potential to bring pleasure to my God! So I can say with peace that only comes from God, “whatever” Lord! I am leaving it all up to You…to order and provide. Order…what He wants to do in me and through me. He orders. I wait. Be still my soul. I am not alone…He is at my side. Order and provide; in every change He faithful will remain…apparently I need some of His provision…something that is lacking in me that He wants to provide for my best and for His glory. When I lack total trust, He tells me I can trust Him. When I lack courage, He tells me to be of good courage, because He has already won! When I lack strength, He tells me to take joy in Him, because joyfully pursuing Him is my strength. Hey! I trusted Him to save me…therefore, I can trust Him to keep me…through everything I experience. He provides what is lacking in my life that enables me to stand firm and be strong. He provides! What a Friend I have in Jesus! (wow! Sounds like another familiar awesome song!) What a FAITHFUL FRIEND! He is with me and I am not alone! Through thorny ways…leads to a joyful end! Through all the pain, grief, loss; whatever source of hurt…this songwriter compared the adversity to thorns. How appropriate. Someone else did that to, i.e. “thorn in the flesh”. I have a choice. A choice to trust Him for His provisions, thereby passionately pursuing Him because in Him there is incredible JOY. When I am still, when I am quiet, when I am focused on the truths found in His Word, I come to that joyful end. He is here. He never leaves me. I am not alone!