The Simplest Thing God Asks of You

What God asks of us requires no special skill, perfect performance, or flawless character; just surrender.Be still and know that I am God! Psalm 46:10So many make God out to be a demanding task master or hard-nosed inspector, seeking to point out the most minute of error; ready to condemn the imperfect.Maybe the words of Jesus spoken to a Pharisee, one who had memorized the first five books of the law, whose very life was focused on keeping not just God's commandments, but extra ones, might shed light on what God's real desire is for us. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."God is good. His love is far reaching and his grace scandalous. Men, like the Pharisee judge, condemn and burden our hearts with rule upon rule. Yet, God brings us freedom through his son, Jesus.So this wonderful Creator,  omnipotent, omniscient, and completely loving asks a very simple thing of us. He asks us to be still and know that he is God.The phrase "be still" in Hebrew means "to let go" or "to make oneself weak".  It's a surrender, but not the kind that comes after a battle when defeat is inevitable. We are not surrendering to an enemy in defeat; we are surrendering our pride and our self-reliance. We are stilling our anxious minds and resting our tired spirits in the arms of our Father.He is asking us to stop our striving and stressing and remember that He's got this!What needs to still in you today? What is it that has you in such a state that you have forgotten that He is God and can be trusted? What efforts of your own, or worries of this life have crept in and taken your focus off the will of God?God is keeping this world spinning. He cares more about your connection with him than your conquests for Him. Let go and let yourself become weak in his arms today. Know that He is God. Surrender.