“Houston, we’ve had a problem.” Those words, spoken by the Apollo 13 astronauts in 1970, captured the world’s attention. An explosion had crippled their spacecraft, leaving them stranded 200,000 miles from Earth. With dwindling supplies and no clear way home, their survival depended on precise course corrections. Even the smallest deviation would mean missing Earth entirely or burning up in its atmosphere. Every adjustment mattered. When they finally landed safely, the world erupted in relief and celebration.

When life feels like Apollo 13 — chaotic, uncertain and fragile — the psalmist invites us into the safe harbor of God himself:

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging
(Psalm 46:1–3).

Troubles come to all of us. Chaos is inevitable. Yet, too often, we meet chaos with more chaos — frantic circumstances met by frantic solutions. We enter crisis mode; we charge ahead with whatever tactic may promise relief. Or maybe we go in the opposite direction and simply freeze with fright and hope that ignoring chaos will prove to be strategic brilliance. Hint: It rarely is.

Psalm 46 offers a different course correction: “Be still, and know that I am God” (v.10).

“Be still” sounds passive, like calm, cloistered meditation. But the Hebrew command means something far richer and resilient: let go or release. It is an active word, even a passionate word, telling us to release our tight-fisted grip on anxiety.

Scripture repeats the refrain that God will never let us go: “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). “Leave” is the same Hebrew word that is translated as “be still.”

Because the Lord will not let go of us, we can let go of everything else. Because the Lord has a firm grasp upon us, we can release all our fears and all the things that cause us to be dismayed. We can say, “Leave it, enter into safe harbor, and know that he is God.”

*Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons: Rembrandt van Rijn, “Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee” (1633). Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons Digital Media Repository.

Walter Kim

Walter Kim became the president of the National Association of Evangelicals in January 2020. He previously served as a pastor at Boston’s historic Park Street Church and at churches in Vancouver, Canada and Charlottesville, Virginia, as well as a campus chaplain at Yale University. He preaches, writes and engages in collaborative leadership to connect the Bible to the intellectual and cultural issues of the day. He regularly teaches in conferences and classrooms; addresses faith concerns with elected officials and public institutions; and provides theological and cultural commentary to leading news outlets. He serves on the boards of Christianity Today and World Relief and consults with a wide range of organizations. Kim received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, his M.Div. from Regent College in Vancouver, and his B.A. from Northwestern University.