When I was a kid, my parents and I lived in a small two-bedroom house that didn’t have a HVAC system. We had a window air conditioner in the kitchen which was on the other side of the house. Oh, those hot summers were bad for someone who were hot natured anyway. I would thrash around in my bed looking for a cool spot. On finding none, I would shout out to my Mom, “I’m hot!” Her reply was always the same, “Be still!” At that time, I didn’t understand it. How in the world would being still do anything when I was so hot?

It took time to realize if I didn’t thrash about my body temperature would be lowered. The problem was I wasn’t being still: I wanted the cool air immediately. We are only human, and when you’re sweating, you’re not the most rational creature.

To be still, you must first learn the art of ‘being’ still. We rest and trust in God. Being still means to fully know that God will always hold us in the palm of His hand. God doesn’t require us to perform some great deed to be still. Daniel didn’t begin in the lions’ den; he began as a slave. Joseph didn’t begin as vizier of Egypt; he began as a slave. The habit of being still in God doesn’t come about in the early days of our salvation; it takes time and learning to be still a little at a time.

So, when the hot fires surround you, and you can’t see or feel anything but flames, remember that to be fully still in God, you must first learn being still, it is only then you will know He is God … no matter how hot the flames are.