Be Still

SGT. LEONARD WALZ was a squad leader with G Company, Second Battalion, Seventh Cavalry Regiment, when he was killed in action near Chorwon on October 3, 1951. Months later, the Rev. Albert Gierke spoke at a funeral service for the deceased soldier, bringing a thoughtful and heartfelt message of comfort to a grieving family.

When the disciples, tossed in their ship by a great storm, came to Jesus for help, He helped them, saying to the raging sea: “Be still!” And there was a great calm. May the Lord’s Word produce a great calm in your hearts today, as I speak to you on the 10th verse of the 46th Psalm: “Be still and know that I am God.”

In all stillness, let us learn that God is personified wisdom, that our puny wisdom is not at all comparable to the wisdom of the All-knowing. Let us also learn that God has in all things His divine purposes, divinely counseled, divinely planned.

God says to all of us: “Be still and carefully lay on your heart My message of mercy and love coming down from high heaven; Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life.” Leonard was faithful to his Savior unto death. By the grace of God, Christ was his everything. Leonard has been crowned with the crown of life.

Be still. What better advice could we hear in our own time of grief? Only in stillness can we open our hearts to Jesus and allow him to fill us with the perfect peace only he can give. Even in the worst of times, our hearts will be quieted by his gentle hand. Be still. Rest in him. He will heal the wounds that seem unbearable in the present moment and reveal God’s purpose in the events that devastate us now but eventually work according to his purpose. In stillness, we are filled with the love, mercy, grace, and constant presence of our heavenly Father—and the assurance that he has prepared a place for our loved ones and for us.