Tag: Psalm 46:10

Repost: People Panicking Perpetuates Pandemonium

Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

Can you say Pandemic?

Three years ago, May 5, 2017, I wrote an article stimulated by what was then called “The Word of the Day.”  Wordpress was using this title to stimulate bloggers to be creative and write about a word they had chosen for that particular day.  I really enjoyed those times of sometimes silly, sometimes serious articles I wrote.

Fast forward three years when yesterday I noticed someone had read this particular article I’m reposting today.  It’s fascinating that I wrote these words three years ago… since I could have written them just yesterday…

Share with your friends if you like… it goes like this…

 

A panic attack is defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) as:

… an abrupt and discrete experience of intense fear or acute discomfort, accompanied by symptoms such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath, sweating, trembling, and worries about going crazy, losing control or dying.

Did you know that 8-10 percent of the population has panic attacks, or that in 5% it becomes a disorder, occurring without any obvious stimulus, making the attacks even more terrifying?  In these cases it isn’t just a rush of anxiety, like most of us might experience from time to time.  No, these patients describe it as the most frightening event they have ever experienced.  Research has discovered what leads to or causes a person’s first panic attack, as well as some clues about how to avoid an attack in the first place.  The simplified version is that panic attacks often result…

…when our normal “fight or flight” response to imminent threats—including increased heart rate and rapid breathing—is triggered by “false alarms,” situations in which real danger is absent.

The good news for those who suffer this chronic disorder is, first, all panic attacks are triggered by known events, even though the person may not be aware of those events. Knowing this can often reduce the anxiety stemming from a sense of unpredictability.  Second, though it is affirming to learn the attack is caused as a misfire of the fight-or-flight response when there is actually no danger.

pandemonium

In a culture spawning “fake” news, political corruption, excesses and entitlements, it’s little wonder that we all don’t run into the ocean, screaming in a wild panic.  I’m sure that we could learn quite a bit from a shepherd boy, if we only would.  Just because things look dangerous, or complicated, or “glass-half-empty,” (or completely empty), doesn’t mean God sees it this way.  If only we could see the world, ourselves, and our situations through God’s eyes, I believe it would make a huge difference in the way we live daily.  Maybe we wouldn’t become panicked quite so much.

The key to David’s life was his ability to not see things as they are, but to view them as God sees them.  Enter Goliath, a huge 9 ft. tall giant of a man, hardened by war, trained in battle.  He wears armor plated garments, has both spear and sword, and a shield to ward off enemy attacks.  He bellows at the top of his lungs, the wild ravings of the blood-thirsty heathen that he is.  And every time he does so, every man in the camp of Israel… well, they are trembling in a crazed panic.

Along comes David bringing food to his brothers in the army of Israel.  Upon hearing Goliath’s threats and railings, David’s response is not flight, it is fight.  It’s not an imagined danger, it is very real.  It is tangible.  This is death with a face on it.  Yet, David’s instant response to the Israelite men trembling in panic was this:

1 Samuel 17:26
Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?”

I can almost hear it in David’s voice.  The overwhelming confidence that God will not stand for His people to be challenged in this way without retribution.  God will not allow for the heathen to cast dispersions and heresies about Him without punishment.  David is clearly not panicked.  (1 Samuel 17)  How did God use David’s confidence to demonstrate His own sovereign control, authority, and covenant presence?  Watch.  After using his trusty slingshot to nail the giant with a stone David gathered from the river…

1 Samuel 17:51
Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.  When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

Now it’s the Philistine army’s turn to be panicked, and well they should.

So, here’s the thing.  That event or circumstance (think Coronavirus) that frightens you most right now, whether cancer, relationship struggles, financial difficulties, or emotional strains to difficult even to talk about… hear me… God is still in control.  The authority of His word still stands.  His covenant presence with you is designed to annihilate the panic that so easily sets in to destroy us.  Here are God’s simple words to avoid becoming panicked:

Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God.  I will be honored by every nation.  I will be honored throughout the world.

True three years ago… still true today.

Purposes

Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

I’ve lived for years in solitude.  My vocational choices led me to spend time among people occasionally, but the bulk of my work, both secular and in ministry, was alone in an office.  While some of those jobs also challenged me to work with several people in the office, the most number of people I was around on a daily basis was 8-10.  Even there I spent every day on the phone, or planning, or writing proposals or sermons or lessons, in what sometimes felt like solitary confinement.  In many different ways, I’m as prepared as I ever could be, for social distancing.

While in the throes of this COVID-19 chaos, we’re being told to go home, stay home, and live in a secluded fashion with the purpose of stemming the flow of the virus to other people, including ourselves.  Many people who don’t deal well with confinement, will see this time alone as pure torture, agony, or undue suffering.  In fact, not being alone, and not being still long enough to think rationally and logically about anything is an ancient problem, not a new 21st-Century challenge.

The Psalmist writes how God is the refuge of His people in Psalm 46.  But I especially have always looked to verse 10 for solace.

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

The Hebrew text indicates this word means to sink, or relax.

Sink into what?  Relax, are you kidding me?  No really, this is exactly God’s purpose for what we need most – right this minute.  We need to know, not just intellectually understand or comprehend, but really get what God expects from us, indeed commands us. The command of God is total surrender to Him as the LORD – in control, having all authority, and present in our world today.  More and more, activities people around the world would normally flock to have either been postponed to a later date, or cancelled completely.  This could be easily construed as the LORD of heaven on purpose saying to all of humanity, “You’ve been worshiping at pagan places filled with idols.  I will help you be still, and remember who I AM, by using this virus to get your mind off of sports, movie theaters, works of art, concerts, playoffs, or any other venue-oriented entertainment escape.”

One of the hardest things for many people I’ve known is the concept of just “being still” for more than 10 seconds.  Add to not knowing how to be still, the idea of being cooped up with children, or spouses, or grandparents who all would drive you crazy when there was no virus, and this command of God might seem impossible to achieve.

Could God’s purpose for this virus really be that we need to stop worshiping other things and just be still?  Well, being still is only half this equation.  Because if you are capable of being still, that alone does not ensure you will focus where you need to focus, on the LORD of heaven.  After all, the being still part is really just to create a space in your world where you can experience Truth.

“… and know that I am God.”

Our minds and our hearts have in recent years become numbingly indifferent to the nature and character of God.  I really do believe it is time for a reset for us.  Why?  Think about the last several years of turmoil in our United States government.  Now filter everything you’ve seen, read, or heard on television, radio, or online apps, and read these words:

2 Timothy 3:1-5
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.

Do these descriptions essentially fit to form a fairly accurate description of life in the USA and other places around the world today?  Does Paul really have a vision of life in the 21st-century?  Men and women of power and means, blatantly denying the existence of God, must really be taxing to the LORD of creation, don’t you think?

It doesn’t take much understanding to realize we have no control whatsoever over this virus.  The leaders of our world, the scientists, the manufacturers of the health products we need, all are working around the clock to solve a currently unsolvable problem. The virus will run its course. And we do not yet know the extent of the damage, or where or how it will all end.  We’re in the throes.

Isn’t it time to just stop?  Stop being scared?  Stop listening to the talking heads on TV telling us what to think and how to feel?  Isn’t it time to just BE STILL, AND KNOW that the One who created us, also has intended purposes for this event that we can’t possibly know or understand?

When was the last time you picked up your Bible to give you hope and clarity, rather than tuning into Talk Radio, or some 24 hour news station on the television?  If you are a true Christ-follower, you are being watched right now, whether you know it or not.  In days of calamity and chaos, even the ungodly are brought to a place where they must recognize they are not in control.  God is.  Do you portray this truth in how you are dealing with COVID-19?

Right now, are you modeling for your neighbor who is spiritually far from God, the truth that God is not far from any one of us?  Are you criticizing everything and everyone, or contributing a solution by inviting God to intervene in our world with healing?  The true Christ-follower knows how to “be still” and in prayerful worship, trust God for the outcome.

Are you a lover of self, money, or power?  Have you become boastful, arrogant, ungrateful, and unholy? Are you like those holding onto a “form of godliness” all the timing denying the power of the Creator to control this virus?

Be still. Know that I AM is still God.

Keep saying it.  Allow you mind to constantly repeat:

I am in God’s care.
He loves me more than I love myself.
Jesus gave Himself for me so that I might know the truth of God’s love.
I am who He says I am, and He says I am His child.
He is in Control.
He has absolute Authority over my life.
And He is right here with me… whatever may come.
His name is Jesus.

And I will not face death, until all my days are done, so I will be still, and know that God is..

 

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Why rush the race?

Dr. J.D. Wilkins1 Comment

Daily Post: Scamper

scamper

What I truly love about going on vacation, in some ways I also hate; the trip itself.  Going is always exciting and rewarding, coming back is often a drudge.  It is menial, dull work, to drive 8.5 hours one way, in one day, arriving back at the domicile, completely exhausted from the trip.  This feeling is perhaps the origin of the phrase, “I need a vacation, from my vacation!”  Sitting here back at my desk this morning, it’s hard not to scamper back into the familiar routine of writing, making to-do lists, and planning out my week.  But really, what’s the rush?

Already my mind is racing toward the things on my calendar which will be matters of priority this week.  The A/C guy is coming tomorrow to figure out my cooling issues.  Tuesday is Senior Men’s Golf Assoc., so golf again, (yeah!) That’s as far as I got before I realized I was doing it again.  Rushing the race.  It’s what we do; we skuttle and scurry, we dart and we dash from one sticky-note-task to the next.  All the while scooting and sprinting to make another sticky note list, even before the one we have is completed.  This is why vacations were created in the first place (my opinion).

I need my calendar and my sticky-notes to-do lists to help keep me focused.  But being focused to accomplish some things that are important, is not the same thing as being run into the ground obsessively controlled by a need to “get it done.”  I’m retired for one thing.  This means the schedule, with the exception of a few “have-to’s” is pretty flexible. I don’t really have to “hightail it” anywhere for anything.  So, I’m learning how to not rush the race.

Some might say: “What race?”

The race we humans call “Life.”  Let’s say the average life-span is 80 years.  This means a person only has 41,932,800 minutes to live in total.  The moment of that first breath, is the beginning of the end.  Like a giant clock ticking off the seconds of a stopwatch working its way down to zero.  In this example, I have already used, 33,022,080 minutes of my allotted time.  This knowledge could have serious implications for how I choose to use what time I have left.  Perhaps it should too.

Perhaps instead of scampering around to make a bigger pile of money, I should rush into doing random acts of kindness, or running to bring joy to those around me.  Maybe instead of darting and dashing around reacting to things which have no eternal value at all, I could instead write a series of sticky-notes that direct my attention to my future heavenly domicile.  How about this one…  I saw this on a t-shirt on Friday, and thought, “I want to do that!”  A person is given a glass with water at the midway point and asked, “Are you a glass half-empty or half-full person.” The person picked up the glass, drank the water, and replied, “I’m a problem solver.”

It’s not about the time I’ve wasted, misused, or actually used effectively in my past.  It’s not about how little time I have left either.  It’s about right here and right now, day by day, making the best and most effective use of the 1,440 minutes of every hour I live.  What high and lofty goal should be the focus of today?  From God’s own word it is simple and clear.

Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

≠

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People Panicking Perpetuates Pandemonium

Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

Panicked

pandemonium

A panic attack is defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) as:

… an abrupt and discrete experience of intense fear or acute discomfort, accompanied by symptoms such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath, sweating, trembling, and worries about going crazy, losing control or dying.

Did you know that 8-10 percent of the population has panic attacks, or that in 5% it becomes a disorder, occurring without any obvious stimulus, making the attacks even more terrifying?  In these cases it isn’t just a rush of anxiety, like most of us might experience from time to time.  No, these patients describe it as the most frightening event they have ever experienced.  Research has discovered leads to what causes a person’s first panic attack, as well as some clues about how to avoid an attack in the first place.  The simplified version is that panic attacks often result…

…when our normal “fight or flight” response to imminent threats—including increased heart rate and rapid breathing—is triggered by “false alarms,” situations in which real danger is absent.

The good news for those who suffer this chronic disorder is, first, all panic attacks are triggered by known events, even though the person may not be aware of those events. Knowing this can often reduce the anxiety stemming from a sense of unpredictability.  Second, though it is affirming to learn the attack is caused as a misfire of the fight-or-flight response when there actually is no danger.

In a culture spawning “fake” news, political corruption, excesses and entitlements, it’s little wonder that we all don’t run into the ocean, screaming in a wild panic.  I’m sure that we could learn quite a bit from a shepherd boy, if we only would.  Just because things look dangerous, or complicated, or “glass-half-empty,” (or completely empty), doesn’t mean God sees it this way.  If only we could see the world, ourselves, and our situations through God’s eyes, I believe it would make a huge difference in our lives.  Maybe we wouldn’t become panicked quite so much.

The key to David’s life was his ability to not see things as they are, but to view them as God sees them.  Enter Goliath, a huge 9 ft. tall giant of a man, hardened by war, trained in battle.  He wears armor plated garments, has both spear and sword, and a shield to ward off enemy attacks.  He bellows at the top of his lungs, the wild ravings of the blood-thirsty heathen that he is.  And every time he does so, to a man in the camp of Israel, they are trembling in a crazed panic.

Along comes David bringing food to his brothers in the army of God.  Upon hearing Goliath’s threats and railings, David’s response is not flight, it is fight.  It’s not an imagined danger, it is very real.  It is tangible.  It is death with a face on it.  Yet, David’s instant response to the Israelite men trembling in panic was:

1 Samuel 17:26
Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?”

I can almost hear it in David’s voice.  The overwhelming confidence that God will not stand for His people to be challenged in this way without retribution.  God will not allow for the heathen to cast dispersions and heresies about Him without punishment.  David is clearly not panicked.  (1 Samuel 17)  How did God use David’s confidence to demonstrate His own sovereign control, authority, and covenant presence?  Watch.  After using his trusty slingshot to nail the giant with a stone from the river…

1 Samuel 17:51
Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.  When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

Now it’s the Philistine army’s response to be panicked, and well they should.

So, here’s the thing.  The thing, event or circumstance that frightens you most right now, whether cancer, relationship struggles, financial difficulties, or emotional strains to difficult even to talk about; hear me… God is still in control.  The authority of His word still stands.  His covenant presence with you is designed to annihilate the panic that so easily sets in to destroy us.  Here are God’s simple words to avoid becoming panicked:

Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God.  I will be honored by every nation.  I will be honored throughout the world.

 

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The silence in my head

Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

via Sound

soundofsilence

Simon & Garfunkel’s song was pounding in my headache as I awakened today. “Hello darkness, my old friend… I’ve come to talk with you again…”  Recorded in 1964 by Columbia Studios in New York City, I was only 10 years old when I heard this song on my sister’s radio.  Half a century later, clear as crystal these lyrics sang back to me from my subconscious sleep, over and over and over.  Now I need a nap, to get some rest.

Actually, I’ve had a great deal of experience with silence.  For years as a pastor, whole periods of my daily existence were completely void of sound.  While I would read, study, and write sermons and Bible studies, even the clock made no noice, it was digital. Occasionally I would hear a squirrel run across the roof, or the sound of thunder during a rainstorm, the wind howling through the leaky windows.  Mainly though, the silence was deafening.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t have called someone on the phone.  Yet there it sat, inches away, making no sound.  I could have listened to music, turned on a playlist, the radio, something.  The sound of silence had truly become comfortable for me.  During those hours of quiet contemplation and communion with God, He instilled in my mind during these times of silence, thoughts I would write then later speak.  Even now, as I write these words, the click-click-clicking of the keyboard is as loud as the framer’s hammer driving 3 inch nails into the house being built down the street.  It’s silent in my office, and I hear the cars rushing by on the street as their drivers stream toward work and school while I sit silently listening.

Last line of “The sound of silence” goes like this:

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said “The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence

The cryptic language of the song is a fascinating study in the power of lyrics and music. A neon light, thousands of people talking without speaking, hearing without listening, writing songs that no one hears, because they are never shared… these are very powerful images, but what does it all mean?  Simon said in an interview with NPR, “It wasn’t something that I was experiencing at some deep, profound level – nobody’s listening to me, nobody’s listening to anyone – it was a post-adolescent angst, but it had some level of truth to it and it resonated with millions of people. Largely because it had a simple and singable melody.”  So there you go, just a song that resonated with millions of people, because of the music and lyrics.

David the King of Israel wrote music and lyrics thousands of years ago, which people still sing.  We don’t really know what the music sounded like, so much as we know the lyrics today.  Although Amy Grant helped us all with “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path,” [Psalm 119:105] and other music artists along the way have captured the Psalms in their music,  I wonder if there was music accompaniment at all to some of the things David wrote.  For example, “Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.” [NASB] many people my age recognize as “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.” [KJV] Psalm 98:4

During my hours of study there would be times of joy and shouting, and times of weeping and silence.  In all those hours I remember fondly God’s voice “whispering in the sounds of silence.”

Be still, and know that I am God!   Psalm 46:10a