Be Still and Know - Part 5

Oct 1

7 min read

The Other Side: When Stillness Becomes Testimony

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among

the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

— Psalm 46:10 (NKJV)

We walked through the first half of this verse in Parts 1-4. In Part 3, we sat down on the grass and learned that stillness is the surrender of control. In Part 4, we climbed into the boat and learned that stillness is not knowing where you are, but knowing who He is.

But there is a another part of this verse most of us never get to. Read it again. "I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

So let me ask you this. What is stillness for?

Is it just so you can feel peaceful? Is it just so your anxiety and your blood pressure comes down, and you can get through another week? Or is God doing something bigger when He tells you to be still?

Here is the truth I want to press into you today: God does not still you so you can stay quiet. He stills you so He can be exalted through you. The grass leads to the boat. The boat leads to the shore. And the shore is full of people who need what you just learned.

The Context: From Refuge to Reputation

Look at how Psalm 46 moves. It begins with a personal word: "God is our refuge and strength" (v. 1). It moves to a corporate word: "God is in the midst of her" (v. 5). Then it becomes a public word: "Come, behold the works of the LORD" (v. 8).

Do you see the direction? Inward. Then upward. Then outward.

The psalmist does not end with "be still" and go home. He ends with God being exalted "among the nations." The Hebrew word for "nations" is goyim, the Gentiles, the outsiders, the people who did not grow up knowing Him. God's plan for your stillness was never just about you. It was always about a shore full of strangers who would come to know Him because you did.

Now let us get out of the boat.

The Scene: They Recognized Him

"When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret.”

— Matthew 14:34 NKJV

Crossed over. Remember, Jesus "made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side" (v. 22). The storm did not stop the crossing. The storm was part of the crossing. And now they are exactly where He said they would be.

Let that settle you. The storm did not knock you off God's map. When He says "the other side," you will get to the other side.

Verse 35: "And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick."

Underline that word "recognized." The disciples in the boat had just said, "Truly You are the Son of God" (v. 33). Now the men on the shore recognize Him too. Knowing is contagious. When people truly know who Jesus is, they cannot keep it to themselves. They "sent out into all that surrounding region." One recognition became a regional movement.

Verse 36: "And begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well."

Three Truths from the Shore

1. Somebody's stillness becomes somebody else's faith.

Why did these people want to touch the hem of His garment? Where did they get that idea?

Go back to Matthew 9:20. A woman with a flow of blood for twelve years "came from behind and touched the hem of His garment." She said within herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well" (v. 21). One desperate woman. One quiet act of faith. And now, chapters later, an entire region is doing the same thing.

Her faith became their pattern. Her story became their strategy.

You have no idea who is watching how you trust God in your storm. Your stillness is somebody else's sermon. The way you sit down when everything says panic, the way you keep your eyes on Jesus when the wind is boisterous, that is not just for you. God is writing a testimony that a whole region may one day follow.

2. The hem points to the promise.

Do not rush past the hem. The Greek word is kraspedon, and it refers to the tassels an Israelite man wore on the corners of his garment. Numbers 15:38-39 commanded them: "Make tassels on the corners of their garments... that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD."

So the hem of Jesus' garment was a visible reminder of the Word of God. And these people were reaching for it.

Now hear this. Malachi 4:2 says, "But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings." The Hebrew word for "wings" there, kanaph, is the same word used for the corner of a garment. The people of Gennesaret were reaching for the corner of His garment. They were reaching for healing in His wings. They were laying hold of a promise made four hundred years before, whether they fully understood it or not.

That is what it means to know that He is God. You stop reaching for your own solutions and start reaching for His promises. And His promises never run out. Verse 36 says "as many as touched it." No one was turned away. No one got there too late. No one found the hem worn out.

3. He does not partially heal.

"And as many as touched it were made perfectly well."

The Greek word is diasozo. It means to save thoroughly, to bring safely all the way through. It is the same root used when Paul's shipwrecked crew was "brought safely through" to land. It is not a patch. It is not a temporary fix. It is complete.

That is who our God is. He fed the multitude until they were "filled" with twelve baskets left over. He caught Peter "immediately." He made the sick "perfectly well." Everything Jesus does, He does all the way. He does not half-save. He does not half-forgive. He does not half-keep His word.

Why This Points Us to the Cross

Think about His garment for a moment.

In Gennesaret, people were healed by touching the hem of it. But go to John 19:23-24. At the cross, the soldiers "took His garments and made four parts" and cast lots for His tunic. The One whose garment healed a region was stripped of it and hung naked on a Roman cross.

Why? So that you could be clothed.

Isaiah 61:10: "He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness." Jesus was stripped so we could be covered. He was broken so we could be healed. He went under the weight of judgment so we could be diasozo, saved thoroughly, brought safely all the way through.

And notice how the people of Gennesaret came. They came sick. They came begging. They came with nothing to offer but a hand reaching for a hem. That is how every one of us comes to Christ. Not with our strength. Not with our credentials. Not with our five loaves. Ephesians 2:8-9: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

You reach. He heals. That is grace.

The Contrast: Consumers or Carriers

Here is where we have to be honest about ourselves.

A consumer wants stillness for comfort. A carrier wants stillness for a commission.
A consumer sits down on the grass and stays there. A carrier gets in the boat and crosses over.
A consumer touches the hem and goes home. A carrier touches the hem and goes to "all that surrounding region."
A consumer asks, "What is God doing for me?" A carrier asks, "Who needs to know what God did for me?"

Which one are you?

Because Psalm 46:10 does not say, "Be still, and feel better." It says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted." Your stillness has a purpose, and that purpose has a name. His name.

Practical Application: Living on the Other Side

Tell the story of your storm. The men of Gennesaret recognized Jesus because someone had spoken about Him. Who in your life needs to hear what God did for you in your boat? Say it this week. Out loud. To a real person.
Bring somebody. Verse 35 says they "brought to Him all who were sick." Do not just pray for the hurting people in your life. Bring them. Invite them to church. Sit with them and open the Word. Faith that has been still knows how to carry others.
Reach for the promise, not the feeling. When your peace fades, do not go looking for a feeling. Go looking for a verse. The hem was the Word. Lay hold of Psalm 46:1 again: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
Expect Him to finish. Philippians 1:6: "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it." Stop living like God is going to leave you half-healed, half-saved, half-kept. He makes people perfectly well.
Make His exaltation your aim. Before every decision this week, ask one question: "Will this exalt Him in the earth?" Let that question steer your money, your mouth, your marriage, and your ministry.

The Challenge

We have come a long way with one verse. We sat down. We got in the boat. We crossed over. And now we are standing on a shore full of people reaching for the hem of His garment.

So here is my challenge to you. Stop treating your stillness as a destination. It was never the destination. It was the preparation.

God stilled you on the grass so He could reveal Himself in the storm. He revealed Himself in the storm so you could recognize Him on the shore. And He let you recognize Him on the shore so you would send out into all the surrounding region and bring people to Him.

He will be exalted among the nations. He will be exalted in the earth. That is settled. The only question is whether He will be exalted through you.

Who is the one person in your surrounding region who needs to touch the hem this week?

Go bring them. He has never once turned away a hand that reached for Him. And He is not about to start now.

Be Still and Know - Part 5

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