The Man of Still

The storms of life descend upon us all. No one is exempt from the raging resistance of this tempestuous voyage we call life. We can have Jesus Himself in our boat and yet be in peril. It's the harsh reality of navigating the turbulent waters of the temporal realm. But the sunlight of good news shines behind the threatening storm clouds. The thunder may clap, the lightning may flash, the waves may swell and the wind may blow. But as long as our faith is fixed on the One in our boat, there will be peace and victory.

» Mark 4:39 (emphasis mine)
39 And [Jesus] arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be STILL. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
       

Superman is the so-called Man of Steel, but the disciples had Someone far superior in their boat. They were blessed with the holy presence of the Super Savior - the Man of Still. This Man exercised complete command of the angry elements. This Man stilled the storm by declaring but three simple words. This Man brought a great calm to both the tempest outside as well as the disturbance within the hearts and minds of the disciples. And ''this same Jesus'' is with us also.

STILL WATERS

» Psalm 23:2
2 ...he leadeth me beside the still waters.
       

The Shepherd leads His sheep by still waters. According to a note in my Bible, the original Hebrew reads: ''waters of quietness.'' This is such a beautiful, tranquil image. Still waters are the opposite of stormy, turbulent, agitated waters. This is a description of perfect peace - the very peace of God (see Isaiah 26:3; Philippians 4:7). The Man of Still is our Shepherd. He can do this for us.

» Psalm 107:29 (emphasis mine)
29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are STILL.
       

This Super Scripture, as well as the verses surrounding it, seems to foreshadow the storied miracle on the boat. In fact, it reads as if the psalmist is recording the future New Testament incident in real-time as an eyewitness. ''Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!'' (verse 31) The LORD is good. He pours His goodness upon us in so many ways. He does wonderful works on our behalf. The stillness of perfect peace in the storm is included among these wonderful blessings. And we ought to praise Him for it!

» Psalm 65:7
7 [God] stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.
       

Imagine being one of the passengers on that boat with Jesus. It's ''quite'' noisy, isn't it? (Pardon the pun.) Hear the reverberating thunder. Hear the rushing of the wind, advancing on the vessel like the fierce offensive of an invading army. Hear the cruel crescendo of crashing waves, filling the boat with too much of a good thing. And besides all this, hear the ''tumult of the people'' - the people being the terrified disciples. These are not exactly waters of quietness. But it shall be well because the Man of Still is awake. He will bring stillness to this noise. And He will do the same for us today if we focus our faith on Him.

» Psalm 89:8-9 (emphasis mine)
8 O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?
9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, THOU STILLEST THEM.
       

The Man of Still is Lord of the storm. This means, not that He is the author of the trouble, but that He reigns over it. He rules the raging of the sea. He is greater than the gale, mightier than the mayhem and more powerful than the peril. He stills the towering, threatening waves. There is never any reason to fear when He is in the boat with us.

AT A ''STANDSTILL''? 

» Exodus 14:13 (emphasis mine)
13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, STAND STILL, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
       

When facing a seemingly impossible situation, there is a human tendency to frantically move about in a flurry of desperate activity. ''I must take action,'' we internally scream at ourselves. ''I must do as much as I can, as fast as I can.'' The truth, however, is that this reaction has more to do with fear than go-getting determination. The fleeing Israelites felt the same way. There seemed to be no way out. But they were commanded to stop the fear and to stand still. In essence, they were ordered to trust in the delivering hand of God. This required putting the impossibility in His care and trusting in His power. The same applies to us. When we do this, we can be confident that the Man of Still will make a way where there is no way. ''The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.'' (verse 14)

WHEN A LONG DAY IS GOOD 

» Joshua 10:12-14 (emphasis mine)
12 Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, STAND THOU STILL upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
13 And THE SUN STOOD STILL, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies...So THE SUN STOOD STILL IN THE MIDST OF HEAVEN, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.
       

This is one of the most mind-boggling and mouth-opening events recorded in the Bible. Contemplate the magnitude of what we have read. God actually alters the activity of the sun and moon, thus altering time itself (at least temporarily). What a miracle! ''The sun and moon stood still in their habitation...'' (Habakkuk 3:11) Think it not strange that Joshua speaks a command to celestial bodies. The Man of Still once caused an immature fig tree to dry up from the roots by speaking to it (Mark 11:12-14,20-21). Supernatural things can happen when we use our spiritual authority.

IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT 

» Psalm 4:4 (emphasis mine)
4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and BE STILL. Selah.
       

Prayer is communing with our heavenly Father. This Super Scripture, however, says nothing about having a conversation with God. Instead, it instructs us to meditate and commune with our own heart as we lay in bed, in the quietness of the night. This is the all-important practice of listening to the inner man of our spirit. ''The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.'' (Proverbs 20:27) The Man of Still declared that ''rivers of living water'' flow out of these inward parts of the belly (John 7:38). The Spirit of God bears witness with the human spirit; this is how a believer knows he is a child of God (Romans 8:16). At Corinth, we find the Apostle Paul being ''pressed'' in his spirit (Acts 18:5). This quiet, meditative communion with our heart is essential to receiving divine guidance.
       

The stillness of the night is an ideal time to hear from the Man of Still within our heart. He is not likely to shout over the noise of our daily lives. Elijah heard from Heaven in ''a still small voice'' (1 Kings 19:12). This is how the Man of Still will speak to us.

HOW TO ''STILL'' VICTORY

» Psalm 8:2 (emphasis mine)
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest STILL the enemy and the avenger.
       

This is not the lone appearance of this verse within the Holy Writ of God's Word. None other than Jesus Himself made reference to it. Interestingly, whereas David asserts that God has ordained ''strength'' out of young mouths, the Man of Still employs a different noun when quoting it. ''...Yea; have ye never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected PRAISE.' '' (Matthew 21:16, emphasis mine) He translates strength as praise; He equates praise with strength. (You will note He does the same thing with ordained and perfected.) Is there a correlation between praising God and strength? Might praise serve as a spiritual technique for gaining strength when we feel weak? I think this is an accurate conclusion from comparing the two Super Scriptures.
       

There is a divine design behind the practice of praise. God ordained and perfected it to ''still the enemy and the avenger.'' Praise is a key component of victory in spiritual warfare. It is a powerful weapon - ''mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds'' (2 Corinthians 10:4). The high praises of God in our mouth, declares a later psalm, will bind and defeat the enemy (149:6-9). As Christians, our enemies are not outfitted in flesh; they are, instead, spiritual in nature. Our adversary is the devil, along with his demon horde. And they need to be stilled, silenced, stopped. Praise is available to accomplish this mission.
       

In the Old Testament, Jehoshaphat and his army secured victory in battle via the militarily-unconventional strategy of praising God. The physical enemy was stilled and defeated ''when [Jehoshaphat and his men] began to sing and to praise'' (2 Chronicles 20:22). In the New Testament, Paul and Silas secured supernatural deliverance from imprisonment when they sang praise at midnight (Acts 16:25-26). These stories weren't inserted into the Bible to fill space. They offer a key lesson for us today. The Man of Still will respond to our praise.

THE STILLNESS OF KNOWING

» Psalm 46:10
10 Be still, and know that I am God...
       

Do you know that He is God? Do you know that He is in control? Do you know that the Almighty loves you, cares for you and is ever ready to show Himself strong on your behalf? It's one thing to believe these things; it's another to know them through experiential evidence. You will know that He is God in your life when you become still - when you cease worrying, stressing and striving with human effort. ''Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you...'' (2 Chronicles 20:17) When you at last turn it all over to Him, you will receive the peace and victory which only the Man of Still can bestow.

HOW TO GET DIVINE ATTENTION

» Mark 10:49
49 And Jesus stood still...
       

Once upon a time, there lived a man who arrested the Man of Still's attention. The soul who accomplishes this is a blind beggar - the Gospel of Mark dubs him ''blind Bartimaeus'' (10:46). Despite significant resistance, despite many attempts to stifle his pleas for Jesus' healing mercy, Bartimaeus perseveres. He keeps at it. He pushes through the resistance. In fact, the more he is told to shut up, the louder he becomes. At last, the Man of Still stops walking. He stands still. He grants the blind man's request, restoring the precious light of sight to a needy member of the human family.
       

What caused the Man of Still to stop in His holy tracks? Listen to His parting words to the sightless supplicant. ''...Go thy way; THY FAITH hath made thee whole...'' (verse 52, emphasis mine) Faith was the deciding factor. Faith manifested wholeness. Faith did what no earthly power could do. Faith got the Man of Still's attention, bringing the peaceful stillness of healing to the turbulent waters of an ''incurable'' affliction. God cannot be pleased without faith (Hebrews 11:6). By the same token, He is pleased with faith. He responds to faith. He looks for faith on the earth (see Luke 18:8). Faith is fueled by the Super Scriptures.
       

''...What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?'' (Mark 4:41) What manner of man? The Man of Still.

» SUPER SUMMARY

1.) Superman is the Man of Steel, but Jesus is the Man of Still. He brings peace, calmness and stillness to our personal storms.
2.) The Shepherd leads His sheep by still waters. The Man of Still is our Shepherd. He can do this for us.
3.) The Man of Still is Lord of the storm. There is never any reason to fear when He is in the boat with us.
4.) When we turn it over to the Man of Still, we can be confident that He will make a way where there is no way.
5.) Supernatural things can happen when we use our spiritual authority.
6.) The quiet, meditative communion with our heart is essential to receiving divine guidance.
7.) God ordained and perfected praise to "still the enemy and the avenger." Praise is a key component of victory in spiritual warfare. The Man of Still will respond to our praise.
8.) When you at last turn it all over to Him, you will receive the peace and victory which only the Man of Still can bestow.
9.) Faith gets divine attention.
10.) Faith is fueled by the Super Scriptures.

© Matt Decker

» This post is an excerpted chapter from my book  SUPER SCRIPTURES ON EARTH