I have a cardboard box at home that has these words printed in large, all-capital letters on the side: STOP! THINK. LIFT. I cannot recall what the box originally held. It’s not a huge box. But its contents must have been heavy. The three commands, I assume, are there to get a person’s attention before he attempts to lift the box.

STOP! Okay, that’s pretty self-explanatory.

THINK about what it is you’re about to do. (Lift a heavy box.)

LIFT carefully using your legs so that you save your arms and back.

Later, I reflected on those three words as I was reading Psalm 46, which is one of my favorite Psalms. (My three-year-old son Trevor has multiple “favorites” of things. For instance, on any given day his favorite color might be green, blue and orange.) Psalm 46 puts into distinct contrast the refuge and strength we find in God with the violence, chaos, noise and destruction that we face in this world. The tenth verse is very well known, although without the preceding verses relating cataclysmic ruin, the tenth verse is often read more in the quiet, pastoral vein of Psalm 23 than as the jolting voice of contrast that it is.

The tenth verse begins, “Be still, and know that I am God...”

Can you see how that command resonates with what is printed on the cardboard box? Here’s how it struck me.

STOP!
“Be still.”

THINK
“And know.”

LIFT
“That I am God.” (Lift your eyes and thoughts heavenward to God.)

As a pastor I spend a fair amount of time in God’s Word. The problem is I find that most of my time reading and studying the Bible winds up being for sermon preparation or for a Bible study or some other potential “teaching moment.” In other words, I find myself reading the Word professionally more than personally. Even when I’m reading for my personal devotions, I have a hard time turning off my “this-would-be- good-for-my-sermon” detector. So what I need to do oftentimes in the midst of my reading is what that cardboard box and Psalm 46:10 tells me to do.

I need to stop, and physically look up from my reading.

I need to think about Who’s speaking through the words in the text. To pay attention to them not for my sermon but simply for what they’re saying.

And I need to lift my eyes and heart to the speaker himself. He is my refuge and strength in the midst of each moment. Even in those seemingly quiet moments when I’m thinking about how I might best feed the flock next Sunday, while my own soul hungers for Bread.

Psalm 46:11 – “The Lord Almighty is with us;” – even me – “the God of Jacob is our fortress.” – and he’s mine, too. Amen.

Randy Mortenson serves as pastor of Ebenezer LBC, Mayville, ND.

By Randy Mortenson

Randy Mortenson serves as pastor of Ebenezer Lutheran Brethren Church, Mayville, ND. He is also the author of the re:Think column.