Peace ... Be Still!

Here I am still thinking about peace. Consider this passage of Scripture about Jesus and a Storm:
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’ Mark 4:35-41

We cannot stop the storms of life from coming, but we can turn to God in the midst of the storm we call life and allow God to speak into it ... Peace! Be Still! I find it easier to live in awareness of God's presence rather than to ride the roller coaster of life acting and reacting as I go. To do that, I spend time in silence ... Try this prayer exercise from BE STILL by Jane Vennard. I find it very effective in my effort to cultivate this kind of presence.

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God”
Set aside some time to sit with this verse in prayer. Repeat the verse leaving off a portion at time. Be silent and spend as long as you can with each phrase (at least 1-2 minutes)

be still and know that I am God
be still and know that I am
be still and know
be still
be ...