ho loves a hectic schedule? Not me. I venture to guess that most of us would admit life's daily obligations, commitments, and relationships can leave us feeling we have too many tasks to accomplish and not enough time to tackle them.

Balancing family, work, church, health and other pursuits often resembles stacking logs, where the addition of one more task threatens to topple the whole stack. As we struggle to keep the pile upright, the weight of stress can unhinge our binds and cause damage to our physical and emotional well-being. Relationships get hurt in the process.

But, even as we survey the damage, we might discover each task we tried to perform actually had a good purpose and we can consider they were worth doing.

Too often, we stand in the dust of the debris asking what we might have eliminated instead of realizing we already dismissed God in the process. We often forget our God created the road to peace. He knows how lost we can get as we try to find the road ourselves. Despite the many times our steps may lead to the crossroads of confusion and wit's end, God gives us the road map of his Scripture to help us find his peace.

So, what does he ask us to do when it seems there are a million things to get done?

In Psalm 46:10, we are reminded to "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Be still? I know. It doesn't make much sense. When you feel like you are the main target in a shooting gallery of wants and deadlines, standing still sounds crazy as life continues to take dead aim.

Know God? How do we fathom the God of the universe at times where pressure builds like a twisted gas pipe? Besides, you might ask, I thought we needed to concentrate on being still?

The simplicity of God's words in response to our anxiety describes who he is in response to who we aren't. To be still means to cease movement and rest. To know him as God means to acknowledge him over and above ourselves and our actions and to remember his responsibility of doing the good in and through us.

We can release all of our cares and concerns on him. Instead of searching to find something to remove from our schedules, we can focus on removing ourselves from the solution and call on the God of the universe, who is willing and able to guide us toward peace.

Why wait until chaos collapses your day to search out God when you can seek him now? Consistent dependence on God weakens our need to worry. He desires us to find more rest and less stress. If you're one who can't wait to unburden yourself from the load you carry, be affirmed.

Our God is not hectic.