Be Still, My Soul

 “’Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge’ Selah” (Psalm 46:10-11)

We are all living in a time and season of extreme, rapid, and radical change – change in our world to the way we live, eat out, do sports, and even in how we worship and do church.  And while changes such as these usually are uncomfortable, awkward, and unwelcome, they nevertheless need not be things to fear. Instead, as I’ve heard it before, God uses the changes we experience in life to prepare us for a “new normal.”

In 1899, Jean Sibelius read the lyrics of a poem by Katharina von Schlegel from a century earlier and was led to set them to a famous tune that ended up creating one of the most enduring Christian hymns – one that we still sing today:

“Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side;

bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;

leave to thy God to order and provide;

in every change He faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend

through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

 

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake

to guide the future as He has the past.

Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;

all now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know

His voice, who ruled them while He dwelt below.

 

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,

and all is darkened in the veil of tears,

then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,

who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.

Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay

from His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on

when we shall be forever with the Lord,

when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,

sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.

Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past,

all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.”

[--Words by Katharina von Schlegel (1752), Tune “Finlandia” by Jean Sibelius   (1899), found in The United Methodist Hymnal #534]

May you and your soul “be still” and know that God is with you (and all of us) through all the changes occurring all around us, and that – as the hymn says -- “in every change He faithful will remain!” Whatever change or transition you are facing today, trust that God is with you!  Remember, God loves you and I do, too!