Life rolls along with all its challenges and victories. Somehow we slip into a rhythm that suits. Others may cock their heads at the adjustments we make as we smile and move forward.
The day finally comes when we realize there’s more going on than we thought and we have to stop and consider.
The illustration I like to use is stepping off the merry-go-round of daily life long enough to let our vision clear. We need to take our routine, expectations, and pressures to the LORD for His intervention. This week I followed my own suggestion.
God led me to Himself through my devotional reading, right to Psalm 23. I’ve been dwelling on the first two verses all week.
“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters.” Psalm 23:1-2
Taking a word at a time, His presence has been sinking into my soul. Click To Tweet‘Green pastures’ and ‘quiet waters’ are my Shepherd’s plan for me. The King James Version says “still waters” and that translation pulls me right over to Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.” Being still is a serious invitation from my Father and I’ve been cultivating that aspect of my life over these months on the road.
For a while the rhythm has been solid and successful for which I praise and thank Him. But now I’m facing a deeper challenge. I had no idea a couple of seemingly simple happenings could have such an impact. Now that I see it, I need to make adjustments.
The return of my manuscript (with loads of things to tackle as well as the words “it’s a story worth telling”) combined with the mentoring I’m receiving (with loads of learning as well as meaningful encouragement) to turn up the heat in my writer’s heart and life. The increase in activity makes it harder to find yet requires more still.
One of the ways my Shepherd is leading me toward still waters is to assign all my fiction energy to the manuscript.
In obedience I return to this style of encouragement for all of us to seek the balance that leads to fulfillment and joy. My vision is clearing as I follow the Shepherd.
Is still on your list? How do you pursue it? Click To TweetEvery LIKE and SHARE counts and each COMMENT spurs me onward. Thank you.
I pray the LORD will use every word I write or speak to draw my readers and hearers into His Truth and tenderness. May His grace abound to you this very day. Amen
with peace beside the quiet waters,
Sandra
Wonderful insights!