Be Still and Know – July 11, 1999
A man flying home from a business trip was surprised when the woman in the seat next to him asked how he could possibly know there is a God. The man explained that he had often felt God’s presence in his life, guiding and directing him as well as comforting him in times of need. Unsatisfied with that answer, the woman wanted to know what God’s presence felt like and how he could possibly know that what he felt was indeed God. The man struggled to find the right words but finally told the woman he couldn’t explain the feelings he had—he just knew.
The woman turned back to her reading, obviously disappointed by his inability to answer her question.
Disturbed by this exchange, the man continued to think about what the woman had said. After some time, he finally turned back to her and asked her to explain the taste of salt. The woman began to speak, stammered, then stopped. The man then said that, just as she couldn’t put into words the taste of salt, he couldn’t explain his feelings—but he knew with all his heart there is a God who loves and cares for His children.1
Sometimes the world would have us believe that if we can’t logically explain something, it can’t be true. That philosophy has led many people to abandon the search for truth and instead seek merely for that which can be called real or authentic.
But there are many things in life we can know even though we can’t explain them. And there are still other things we know and can explain only if we and the person we are talking with have some shared knowledge. For example, have you ever tried explaining a sunset to someone who can’t see? The crackle of a fire to someone who can’t hear? Or the taste of French fries to someone who has never tasted a potato?
We don’t need words to know that God is there for us. We don’t even need the logic and the reasoning of men. God’s ways are not man’s ways. What we do need is to pay attention to our own hearts; to listen to the still, small voice within us; to trust in our own feelings. That is part of what the Psalmist meant when he wrote, “Be still, and know that I am God.”2
Program #3647
1. Adapted from Boyd K. Packer, Teach Ye Diligently, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1975), 48-50.
2. Psalms 46:10.