Why Psalm 46:10?

Psalm 46:10 says, "be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." My grandmother passed away on February 6, 2008. We were very fortunate in that she lived a very long, very happy life, she was only 28 days away from her 100th birthday when she died. The last week of her life, we knew the end was coming any day and were able to make the most of the time that we had left with her. My grandmother taught me more in the last week of her life than she did during the previous 40 years I had been on the earth.

During the last week she would have days that she would only grunt and nod in response. These days were usually followed by a day of almost non-stop talking. I believe that during her times of quiet she was conversing with God and on the days she talked she was so excited about "going home" that you couldn't help but share her joy, and let me tell you she was full of joy! She actually told me after the first day of quiet that she and Jesus had talked about the things above and he was real. She said she was so excited she just had to talk about it. Three days before her death was one of her "quiet" days. When I would ask if she wanted me to read to her from the Bible, her reply was suprisingly "no", "be still and know". If you tried to engage her in conversation all she would say was "be still and know". At first I thought she had found a biblical way to tell us all to "shut up and leave her alone". But as the day went by, I changed my thought. I think she was telling us that we needed to be still and know God. That was the secret to her joy. I don't ever remember seeing my grandmother any way but happy. You didn't have to spend more than a few minutes with her to know that she loved the Lord and sought to live her life to please him. The last day that she really spent talking with the family she challenged us all to "read your Bible more, I wish I had". During the previous week I had found three of her Bibles, all held together with duct or packing tape. This dear, sweet woman, who had worn out at least three Bibles in her life (I'm sure there are more somewhere) wished that she had spent more time reading the Bible. I hope that I wear out at least one in my life.

Genesis 1:27 says "so God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him." God tells us we were made in His image, this means we are to reflect Him in everything we do. My grandmother reflected the image of God in everything that she did and this came as natural to her as breathing. I believe it was because she spent so much time in God's word and filling her mind with Godly thoughts that she didn't even have to think about what was right and what was wrong - she just did it right.

I want to reflect the image of God in everything that I do, I want people to see God in me and know how much I love Him. So, I will take the advice of a very wise woman, who on her death bed where she had been literally sitting at His feet off and on for several days told me "be still and know", "be still and know that I am God". I will be still and I will read my Bible. I will spend time with my God daily and fill my mind and my heart with thoughts of Him and hopefully someone will see God in me and see my joy and want it for themselves.