Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalms 46:10 [KJV])
One of the best illustrations of this scripture is a powerful memory from my own life. When my daughter Stephanie was a baby, she had a brain tumor. On the day of her surgery, we were sitting in the waiting room with 45 people from our church.
My wife and I had already been experiencing an increased sense of God's presence and grace, due to the amount of intercession going on. We had actually passed from worry and concern to an assurance that Jesus had things under control and we were possessed of a supernatural confidence. I sometimes wonder if people observing the situation thought we had lost touch with reality.
The surgery had been ongoing for over 10 hours, and now was done. I was sitting in the waiting room in a position where I could see assorted hospital personnel passing by in the hallway. My attention was sharpening when I saw a nurse go by pushing a wheeled oxygen bottle.
Somehow I knew she was going to pickup my daughter post surgery. I jumped up and caught up with her. I asked her if she was going to pickup my daughter. She had a strange expression as if she had caught me reading her mail, but said yes. I think she knew better than to attempt to dissuade me from going along.
We went down the elevator to the underground that connected to the surgical complex across the street. We arrived to an area with a set of double doors leading to an O.R. Here the nurse and I stopped and waited.
We had already been told that one of the drugs used post op had a side effect of making the patient angry, so I was not surprised when a gurney pushed through the doors, with my one year old daughter crying angrily. She was kicking her feet and one of the accompanying personnel pulled the blanket back up.
Then it happened. I walked up close enough for Stephanie to see me. She immediately stopped crying and looked at me. She kept her eyes fastened on me I don't remember the hospital people saying anything, they just started pushing the gurney. She kept looking at me quietly as we proceeded down the hall.
Whenever my mind starts spinning out of control with all the things going on in the world, I think of this moment, and remember that God has it all under control. I "take into captivity" all those roiling thoughts and remember who He is and what He has done for me.