AUGUEST THEME – “Seeing Revival from God’s Perspective”

Join us in prayer and celebration as Belmont Baptist Church celebrates our Year of Jubilee, marking fifty years of God’s amazing faithfulness and looking forward with grateful hearts to all He has yet to do.

BEATS FROM YOUR PASTOR’S HEART’S

BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD

“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

Yesterday, when your heart was overwhelmed, you prayed, “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” You stopped trying to be your own rock and allowed God to lift you above what was overwhelming you. But once God brings you to the Rock, there is another lesson you must learn: how to be still when everything inside you wants to do something. We are often better at crying out than we are at becoming quiet. We pray, surrender the burden, and then immediately pick it back up by worrying about it. We ask God to take control, then spend the rest of the day trying to figure out how we can control the outcome. Psalm 46 describes trouble, shaking, roaring waters, and mountains being moved—and right in the middle of all that chaos God says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” God is not saying there is nothing happening. He is saying, “Nothing happening is greater than Me.”

STILLNESS IS NOT DOING NOTHING—IT IS CEASING TO PLAY GOD

“Be still” does not mean become passive, careless, or irresponsible. It means stop striving as though everything depends upon you. There are things God expects you to do, but there are also things only God can do. One of the greatest sources of exhaustion is trying to do God’s part. You can pray for your children, but you cannot convict their hearts. You can love someone, but you cannot make them change. You can be faithful, but you cannot control how others respond. You can make wise financial decisions, but you cannot guarantee tomorrow. You can follow the doctor’s instructions, but you cannot command your body to heal. You can knock on a door, but you cannot force God to open it. At some point faith must say, “I HAVE DONE WHAT GOD HAS ASKED ME TO DO. NOW I WILL TRUST GOD TO DO WHAT ONLY GOD CAN DO.” Sometimes the most difficult act of faith is taking your hands off something you desperately want to fix.

YOUR MIND CAN LEAVE THE ROCK WHILE YOUR BODY IS SITTING STILL

You can be sitting in your favorite chair while your mind is running a hundred miles an hour. What if this happens? What if that does not work? What did they mean? What am I going to do? How will this turn out? What if tomorrow brings something worse? Physical stillness is not necessarily spiritual stillness. Your body can be resting while your mind is fighting battles that have not even happened. Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Notice where peace begins: the mind stayed upon God. Peace does not come because you finally figured everything out. Peace comes when you finally decide you do not have to. There are questions God may not answer today because you do not need the answer today. There are problems He may not solve today because His grace for today is enough. There are details about tomorrow He intentionally has not revealed because He wants you depending upon Him today. DON’T ALLOW TOMORROW’S IMAGINED TROUBLE TO STEAL TODAY’S ACTUAL GRACE.

KNOW THAT I AM GOD

God does not merely say, “Be still.” He tells us what to do while we are still: “Know that I am God.” When you cannot understand what God is doing, return to what you know about Who God is. I know He is faithful. I know He loves me. I know He is good. I know He sees me. I know He hears me. I know He has not forgotten me. I know nothing has surprised Him. I know He is already in my tomorrow. I know He can make a way where I cannot see one. I know He is God—and I am not. Sometimes that last truth is the most freeing truth of all. I AM NOT GOD. I do not have to know everything. I do not have to understand everything. I do not have to control everything. I do not have to carry everyone. I do not have to solve every problem. I JUST HAVE TO KNOW THE ONE WHO DOES.

GOD IS NOT PACING THE FLOOR OF HEAVEN

Think about what happens when something unexpected enters your life. Your heart races. Your thoughts scatter. You wonder what you are going to do. But heaven does not react that way. God never receives unexpected news. No angel has ever rushed into the throne room and said, “Lord, we have a problem You didn’t know about.” God has never said, “I didn’t see that coming.” He is never confused, nervous, intimidated, overwhelmed, or uncertain about His next move. What keeps you awake tonight has never caused God one anxious moment. YOU MAY NOT KNOW WHAT GOD IS DOING—BUT GOD KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE IS DOING. That is why you can be still. Not because the storm has stopped, the answer has arrived, the diagnosis changed, the relationship has been restored, the money appeared, or the door opened. You can be still because HE IS STILL GOD.

STOP REHEARSING WHAT COULD HAPPEN AND REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DONE

Fear constantly asks, “What if?” Faith remembers, “God did.” What if I cannot handle tomorrow? God gave you strength yesterday. What if the provision does not come? God has provided before. What if I have to walk through something difficult? God has already carried you through things you once thought you could never survive. Look backward for a moment—not to live in the past, but to remember God’s faithfulness. There were nights you thought would never end, but they ended. There were burdens you thought would crush you, but they didn’t. There were doors you thought had to open, but some stayed closed—and later you thanked God. There were prayers you thought God had forgotten, but He hadn’t. The same God Who was faithful THEN is already waiting for you THERE.

THE STORM DOES NOT HAVE TO BECOME STILL FOR YOU TO BECOME STILL

Imagine Jesus asleep in the boat while the disciples are terrified by the storm. The same wind that frightened them did not frighten Him. The same waves that convinced them they were going to die could not disturb His peace. The disciples were looking at the storm; Jesus knew the Father. Eventually Jesus stood and said, “Peace, be still” (Mark 4:39), and the wind ceased. But before Jesus ever calmed the storm around them, He demonstrated peace in the middle of it. We often pray, “Lord, make everything around me still.” Sometimes His answer is, “Let Me first make something inside you still.” There is a peace that only comes when you stop demanding that circumstances change before you trust God.

RELEASE WHAT YOU CANNOT CONTROL

Somebody reading this is exhausted—not because you have been working too hard physically, but because you have been carrying mentally what you were supposed to surrender spiritually. You have prayed about it, but now you are worrying about what you prayed about. You gave it to God this morning and took it back before lunch. You surrendered the person, then spent hours imagining what they might do. You surrendered tomorrow, then spent tonight living there in your mind. God is saying, “BE STILL.” Take your hands off what belongs in Mine. Stop demanding an explanation before you will have peace. Stop measuring My faithfulness by today’s circumstances. Stop trying to write the ending of a story I am still writing. Yesterday you prayed, “Lead me to the Rock.” Today God says, “NOW STAND ON THE ROCK AND BE STILL.” You do not have to chase the answer. You do not have to manufacture the miracle. You do not have to know how this ends. YOU JUST HAVE TO KNOW WHO IS HOLDING YOU WHILE IT UNFOLDS.

BE STILL

When your heart begins racing—be still. When your mind starts imagining the worst—be still. When someone you love makes a decision you cannot control—be still. When the answer does not come when you expected—be still. When tomorrow looks uncertain—be still. When God seems silent—be still. Stillness says, “GOD, I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, BUT I KNOW WHO YOU ARE.” Yesterday your heart said, “I am overwhelmed.” You answered, “Lead me to the Rock.” Today, standing upon that Rock, hear your Father say, “Be still, and know that I am God.” The storm may still be raging. The answer may still be coming. The situation may still be unresolved. BUT GOD HAS NOT MOVED. And because the Rock beneath you cannot move, YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE MOVED EITHER.

WARFARE PRAYER

Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, I surrender my need to control what only You can control. Forgive me for giving burdens to You and then taking them back through worry. Quiet the noise in my mind. Silence the fearful “what ifs.” Guard my heart from imagining tomorrow without remembering that You are already there. I choose today to be still and know that You are God. You are sovereign over what I cannot change, present in what I cannot escape, powerful over what I cannot defeat, and faithful in what I cannot understand. I release my family, my future, my finances, my health, my unanswered questions, and every circumstance beyond my control into Your hands. When the enemy tells me everything is falling apart, remind me that You are still on the throne. When fear tells me I must figure everything out, remind me that You already know the end from the beginning. Fix my mind upon Jesus. Give me peace that does not depend upon circumstances and confidence that does not depend upon explanations. I will not live tomorrow before it arrives. I will receive today’s grace for today’s burden. I will stand upon the Rock and declare: MY GOD IS STILL GOD, AND THAT IS ENOUGH. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

DAILY CHALLENGE — TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF

Identify the one situation you keep trying to control even though you have already prayed about it. Ask yourself, “IS THERE SOMETHING GOD WANTS ME TO DO ABOUT THIS TODAY?” If there is, obey Him. If there is not, stop mentally trying to do God’s part. Every time your mind returns to that burden today, do not rehearse the problem. Say aloud, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Then remind yourself: I HAVE PRAYED. I HAVE SURRENDERED. GOD HAS HEARD. GOD IS WORKING. GOD IS STILL GOD. AND I WILL BE STILL.

WEDNESDAY’S PRAYER NEEDS

Anna Belle Taylor – Irregular Heartbeat – Jackson’s Special Friend

Britany Smith

Darlene Kelley – Our Cousin _ Recovering from Cancer

Darlene Thaxton

Deanne Boynton

Ginny Ford

Kim McClain’s Mother

Nancy Brown

Rob Davis – cancer