What does it mean when God tells us to “Be still and know that he is God?”

When God tells us in his word to, “Be still and know that I am God,” he’s not making a suggestion to sit cross-legged in a field counting flower petals. He’s instead calling us to radical obedience to a command that actually means we should let Him handle the battles that aren’t ours to fight. Rather than trying to control our futures, friend groups, and reputations in our own strength, we need to let Jesus lead. In order to do so, followers of Jesus need to regularly “be still” enough to know where He is leading us to, and to follow His lead.

As God commands us in the Old Testament to “Be still and know that I am God,” in the Gospel of John, the author carefully reveals exactly who that “I AM” is through Jesus’ words and miracles. Over this school year, we’re going to take time in elementary and secondary school to have “Be Still” moments to reflect on what God is doing in our lives. We’ll use this time to ask him what He wants to remove from our lives and what he wants to add to our lives as he continues to transform us to be more like him. 

Elementary students are going to start at the start with Genesis 1 and will progress through the first 35 of 104 Bible stories that we’ll cover over the course of the next three years. Each lesson will tie into a “Gospel Connection” so they can experience God in His word and see that it’s all one big story of God’s redemption plan through Jesus our Lord. 

Our secondary students are going to focus on the Gospel of John, which is one of the most intimate, slow-paced, and reflective of the four Gospels. While the Gospel of Mark uses the word “immediately” over and over, John frequently focuses on moments that Jesus took time to slow down and how those around him were forced to stop, look, and know who is standing in front of them. 

As we venture through this theme over the 2026-2027 school year, we’ll also encourage our students to have “Be Still” moments. We’ll do so by teaching about spiritual disciplines and creating space for students to practice them in chapels, classrooms, Eagle Times, leadership retreats, and more. 

It’s no surprise that anxiety, performance traps, digital noise, and the pace of our students’ lives can make practicing the presence of God extremely difficult. With the presence of those burdens, our focus is clouded and on ourselves. But when you really know Jesus and you see his glory, all things become pale in comparison to Him. Our only response is to then be still.