Be still and feel God's love

Many of us are familiar with God’s command, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 ). The first requirement, “Be still,” includes more than silencing fear. It involves giving up a sense of self separate from God that believes it must employ human effort to solve problems.

Only by “being still” can we truly “know God.” This is not simply an intellectual acknowledgement of God’s existence but a deep sense of divine Love as the only Mind, operating power and presence, and man as His reflection. Following this command to be still allows us to know and experience reality as God does. 

About seven years ago, I had a wonderful opportunity to follow this command while I was completing a four-year joint law and master’s degree program at two separate schools. 

In November of my second year of law school, I received course assignments for the spring semester, which would be my last semester before starting the master’s degree at another school. None of the assigned courses fulfilled requirements for graduation, and there was no assurance the necessary courses would be available when I returned for one last semester of law school after the master’s degree. 

The school had a drop/add week where students could attempt to change their courses. But the registrar informed me in a rather unkind manner that the courses I needed were almost full and many other students had priority over me to get into the remaining slots.

For most of the drop/add week, I did not follow God’s command “Be still, and know that I am God.” Instead, I halfheartedly applied some truths to the problem and quickly resorted to my best human effort. I met with numerous school officials, all agreed the course schedule threatened my ability to graduate, but no one offered a solution. The more human effort I applied, the more hopeless things seemed. 

The evening before the deadline for changing courses, I learned that an appellate brief I had written for a course needed far more revisions than anticipated. (A brief is a legal argument one would submit if one were arguing a case before an appellate court and is generally
the defining project of law school.) This news, on top of the fear that my course schedule would not allow me to graduate, was more than I could bear. I went home and burst into tears. 

But deep down, I knew Love was right there. Having exhausted all other solutions, I finally did what I should have done initially, namely, become still. I played a CD of a hymn from the Christian Science Hymnal that begins, “O may we be still and seek Him” (Fay Linn, No. 237 )
until I stopped crying. Then I gave up all fear and just listened to God as the only Mind, my Mind. At that moment, I no longer cared about the courses. I simply wanted to know divine Love was in control of my life.

"Be still, and know that I am God" is not simply an instruction to follow when faced with a challenge. It's a description of our real state of being.

Soon clear angel messages came. This big problem I had carried around all week was totally unknown to God. It was simply a false suggestion that could not affect me as God’s reflection. While I had been halfheartedly applying Christian Science to solve a problem, Christian Science was revealing the spiritual fact that there was no problem.

Within a few minutes, I felt an immeasurable sense of God’s love, as well as a profound peace. If it was right for me to get into different courses, nothing could prevent this. If Love had another plan, I could wholeheartedly trust that. 

Mary Baker Eddy defines this exalted state of thought as “a sense of the ever-presence of ministering Love” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 567 ). As I let Love minister to me, I knew with absolute conviction that all was well, despite having no evidence of this fact.

Later that evening, I spoke with a Christian Science practitioner with whom I had been praying to get a better understanding of God as Love. I had not mentioned my course difficulties to her, but that evening I told her everything. She responded that earlier in the day she’d felt led to pray for me with this Bible verse, “Let not your heart be troubled: … In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1, 2 ).

At that moment, I was in awe of divine Love for supplying the practitioner with a truth that directly met my need. I had been very troubled because although there were many “mansions”—or in my case, law school courses—there did not seem to be a place for me. 

The next morning I went to the registrar’s office. Before I could leave my card requesting course changes, the registrar, who had been so unfriendly before, offered to help me drop three courses and pick up the three that best met my needs.

The problem that seemed so real the day before had simply disappeared. In its place was a sweet sense, an absolute conviction, that God is Love. 

This consciousness of Love remained as I effortlessly revised the appellate briefing and completed final exams with a light-hearted joy not usually associated with law school! 

Looking back, I realize that “be still, and know that I am God” is not simply an instruction to follow when faced with a challenge. It’s a description of our real state of being. We actually can know nothing but God, and be nothing but His perfect reflection, man.