I recently read through Isaiah, and this passage stuck out to me:
Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it. And it was told to the house of David, saying, “Syria’s forces are deployed in Ephraim.” So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.
Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz . . . and say to him: ‘Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah. . . .”
Isaiah 7:1-7
As Isaiah tells Ahaz, these Gentile kings with their anger and their armies are a problem. A real problem.
But they’re nothing compared to God–His power and His work.
This encouragement resonated in my heart as well. Our chronic illness is a problem–a real problem. We can’t deny the pain, the inconvenience, the hardship of ongoing health limitations. (God doesn’t deny this suffering either.)
Yet it’s nothing compared to who God is and what He can do.
Just as Isaiah encouraged Ahaz to “zoom out” and include God in the big picture, so we need to take a step back and make sure we’re living in light of the sovereignty, wisdom, goodness, and power of God.
God’s words through Isaiah to Ahaz, in light of this very real problem he faced, speak to us today as well: “Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted” (vs. 4).
God says, “Don’t get worked up.” (Or, in the vernacular, Don’t get your panties in a wad. :)) He says, “Don’t worry, don’t stress, don’t be afraid. I’ve got this. Sit down. I’ll take care of it.”
Or, in those two key words, “Be quiet.”
Being Quiet in Chronic Illness
In the original Hebrew, the word for “be quiet” is saqat, a primitive root verb that translates into several English words or phrases:
- to be quiet, tranquil, at peace
- to rest, lie still
- undisturbed, inactive
- to show quietness
- to repose, settle, be still
Which of these words touch your heart? The ones that touched mine were “to show quietness” and “undisturbed,” because they don’t indicate a lack of trouble; rather, they indicate an internal state of tranquility and repose despite trouble.
These words suggest a soul undisturbed and at peace while the storms of the world, chronic illness, suffering, spiritual warfare, and life whirl around it. I’m reminded of what Gordon MacDonald wrote in his book Ordering Your Private World:
Whether you call it the “bridge” in naval language or the “heart” in biblical language, the point is the same: There must be a quiet place where all is in order, a place from which comes the energy that overcomes turbulence and is not intimidated by it.
pp. 20-21
(See The Master’s Call to Rest in Chronic Illness.)
Let’s look at some other passages that include this word saqat:
So Joshua took the whole land . . . and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war.
Joshua 11:23
Then [Naomi] said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.”
Ruth 3:18
And they found rich, good pasture, and the land was broad, quiet, and peaceful.
1 Chronicles 4:40
“I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
Job 3:26
I have no rest, for trouble comes.”
You caused judgment to be heard from heaven;
Psalm 76:8
The earth feared and was still.
Do not keep silent, O God!
Psalm 83:1
Do not hold Your peace,
And do not be still, O God!
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
Isaiah 30:15
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
But the wicked are like the troubled sea,
Isaiah 57:20
When it cannot rest,
Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
“‘For behold, I will save you from afar,
Jeremiah 30:10
And your seed from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet,
And no one shall make him afraid.'”
Maybe, like me, you’ve thought of the words of the beloved hymn “Nearer, Still Nearer”:
Nearer, still nearer—close to Thy heart,
C. H. Morris
Draw me, my Savior, so precious Thou art;
Fold me, O fold me close to Thy breast;
Shelter me safe in that Haven of Rest,
Shelter me safe in that Haven of Rest.
Or the similar lines of the hymn “Near to the Heart of God”:
There is a place of quiet rest,
Cleland Boyd McAfee
Near to the heart of God;
A place where sin cannot molest,
Near to the heart of God.
Let’s go back to the Ruth passage for a moment, where Naomi tells Ruth, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man [Boaz] will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day” (4:18).
Ruth has asked Boaz to take up the responsibility of kinsman redeemer and marry her in order to carry on her late husband’s name and preserve her family’s inheritance. Boaz told her that there was another family member, closer to Ruth, upon whom the responsibility of kinsman redeemer fell; but that if this other relative refused the opportunity, Boaz would take it.
Boaz goes off to talk with this other relative, leaving Ruth to wait with her mother-in-law, Naomi. Naomi says Boaz “will not rest” until the matter is concluded–but notice what she tells Ruth to do: “Sit still.”
If the story of Ruth and Boaz, while a literal historical narrative, points us to Jesus as the Redeemer of our souls, I believe it’s no mistake that Boaz is the one who takes action while Ruth is the one who is told to “sit still.” (This phrase comes from another Hebrew word, yasab, which means to dwell, remain, sit, abide, have one’s abode, or inhabit.)
My word study led me to two other passages, with the same or similar wording in English but different origins in Hebrew.
Finding Rest in Chronic Illness
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
Psalm 23:2
He leads me beside the still waters.
This word “still” comes from the Hebrew noun menuha, which means resting place, rest, or quietness. It comes from another noun, manoah, which translates into resting place or state or condition of rest. (It’s also the name of Samson’s father, given in Judges 13 and 16.) This version of the noun, however, comes from the root verb nuah, which, like saqat, translates into a variety of English terms:
- to rest, settle down
- to repose, be quiet
- to alight
- to lay or set down, deposit, place
- open space (see The Narrow Place of Chronic Illness)
Look at how these words are used in the following passages:
Then the ark rested (nuah) in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.
Genesis 8:4
But the dove found no resting place (manoah) for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth.
Genesis 8:9
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested (nuah) the seventh day.
Exodus 20:11
Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security (manoah) for you, that it may be well with you?
Ruth 3:1
But now the LORD my God has given me rest (nuah) on every side; there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence.
1 Kings 5:4
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest (nuah) upon Him,
Isaiah 11:2
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding . . .
[Judah] dwells among the nations,
Lamentations 1:3
She finds no rest (manoah);
All her persecutors overtake her in dire straits.
They pursue at our heels;
Lamentations 5:5
We labor and have no rest (nuah).
“So I will lay to rest (nuah) My fury toward you, and My jealousy shall depart from you. I will be quiet (saqat), and be angry no more.”
Ezekiel 16:42
Staying Still in Chronic Illness
The last passage that I studied is Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
In this verse, “be still” comes from the primitive Hebrew verb rapa:
- to sink (down), relax, let drop
- to abate, withdraw
- to let go
- to be quiet
- to cease
Throughout the Old Testament, this word translates into the following terms:
- “idle” (Ex 5:17)
- “forsake” (Deut 4:31, or “fail” in the KJV)
- “neglect” (Josh 18:3, or “slack” in the KJV)
- “be quiet” (1 Sam 15:16, or “stay” in the KJV)
- “lose heart” (2 Sam 4:1, or “feeble” in the KJV)
- “weak” (2 Chron 15:7)
- “cease” (Ps 37:8)
- “let go” (Prov 4:13)
- “slothful” (Prov 18:9)
- “faint” (Prov 24:10)
- “weaken” (Jer 38:4)
- “let down” (Ez 1:24)
Like me, you might be surprised to see most of these terms either as negative terms or used in a negative way. Yet in Psalm 46:10 God commands us to do these exact things: to stop, let go, not move.
While inaction is a terrible trait for someone supposed to help, it’s usually the best trait for the person being helped.
I just finished reading a book (Lumen, by J. J. Fischer) in which one character is falling off the edge of a cliff, and another character tries to pull her back up. The woman, panicked, is moving so much that the man nearly loses his grip. Unable to pull her up, the man is forced to drop her to a ledge below. (She’s caught by another character and all ends well.)
Similarly, when we’re wrestling, when we’re striving, when we’re trying to stay in control and go our own way, we’re only getting in God’s way and hindering the work He wants to do. God tells us what Moses told the Israelites at the edge of the Red Sea: “Stand still (a different yasab), and see the salvation of the LORD” (Ex 14:13).
God can’t fight for us if we’re fighting against Him.
But what does this salvation look like for us with chronic illness? Does “standing still” mean we lie in our beds all day and wait for God to miraculously heal us?
Not in the least. As emphasized in other blog posts, resting in God does not mean not taking the steps within our power to take care of ourselves and move forward: going to doctors, eating well, getting rest, and so on.
Rather than promising an external, physical outcome, however, this stillness gives us a spiritual, internal blessing. Resting in God means settling our spirit. Letting Him rule our hearts. Focusing our minds on Him. Having peace in our souls no matter the storms we face in our bodies.
As we see from all of these Hebrew words, God calls us to not be anxious, to stop running around, to end our frantic wandering, and be still. Be quiet. Rest. Come home to Him.
For when we are “near to the heart of God,” and let Him rest in our hearts, then we will know rest and quietness in chronic illness.
Do you know peace in the storms of chronic illness? Are you fully surrendered in God’s hands and to His will? In what ways do you need to “cease” striving and “be still” instead?
The Valley 