It’s been busy since I last wrote. It is kind of the story of my life. My motto tends to be, “I’ll rest when I die.” But sometimes God says, “Time Out!”
Easter weekend was a whirlwind of noise and activity with an additional ten people in the house, including six rowdy grandsons ranging in age from one to twelve and their two sets of parents. During the next seven days I was buried in tax preparation, physical therapy, and recovering from Easter weekend. Since then, my husband had oral surgery and I had to go to Trenton for special bloodwork, which took two days of our week. My physical therapy continued three times last week, and somehow we managed to squeeze in our regular work responsibilities. Last weekend we had the privilege of hosting a Spanish Pastor’s Summit at our church. My responsibilities included organizing, set up, decorating, and serving meals.
Monday was my “time-out”. This day was the “back-up” day for my monthly day of prayer. The first day ended up being Joe’s oral surgery day and I needed to be available to help him, so I postponed my day with God. I was planning a day that was uninterrupted by people or responsibilities, and I imagined a lovely day walking on the beach or at a park, quiet and focused on the Lord. Like last month, my agenda for “my day” of prayer was not really what God had in mind. Unlike last month, I did not have the opportunity to get away for a whole day.
The morning was spent at home, and while I attempted to focus my mind on prayer and intercession, while listening to hymns and worship music, I was interrupted by my crazy pug puppies who were either chewing on something, jumping on furniture, or fighting with each other. I did some laundry, straightened the house, and loaded the dishwasher…Mundane things that needed to be done, but did not require my full attention. I tried to write a little, but the words just would not come. I asked the Lord to bring to mind those who needed prayer the most as I went through the morning…Baby Griffin and his family, baby Landon, baby Liam. Others who face trials daily as they care for children and family members with disabilities. Those who are grieving the death of a loved one. Neighbors, friends, family members who need Jesus…Our children and grandchildren to walk with Jesus and grow in Him. I am studying the book of Job right now, and Job was a great example of an intercessor for His children and for his friends!
A couple of urgent matters came up that could not be postponed, so after lunch, I reluctantly headed to the car to take care of these things. I figured that I could use the drive time to pray. As I pulled out on the road, I wondered how to focus my prayer time during these next ten minutes. But instead of praying for others, the Lord brought to my mind some familiar passages from the book of Psalms. It was time to let the Lord do the speaking, and I needed to listen.
Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters…
Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord…
These familiar passages reminded me that in all of it’s busy-ness of my life, even if it is good busy-ness, I need to SLOW DOWN and listen to my Father! In these words of Scripture, God gently whispered, not audibly, but in my spirit, “Honoring Me is more than “doing”; honoring me is about “being”. It is trusting Me. It is waiting on Me. It is communing with Me. It is being with Me.
Words like “meditate”,
The blessed man of Psalm 1 will “be (not do) like a tree planted by rivers of water”.
“He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters. Herestores my soul”.
“He prepares the table before me.” (I don’t do the preparing, He does!)
“He comforts me.”
“We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.”
I had been so very busy over the past few weeks, doing, doing, doing. Necessary things. Good things. Important things. But I was so busy doing that that I forgot the importance of “being” in His presence. This is His world, His earth. It’s not all my responsibility. It is His to care for. He allows me as His child to be a part of the process, but ultimately it is not on my shoulders.
This month, we are exploring what it means to live in the “fear of the Lord” through our Proverb of the Day. It is in the “everyday-ness”, a term I learned from my good friend, Lynn Jackson, that we learn to “serve the Lord with gladness”, to worship in His presence with singing, to live godly lives, to let Him “lead me in the paths of righteousness.” To fear the Lord is to “trust in (Him) with all my heart, and do not lean on my own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).
The Lord reminded me through His Word that I was exhausted physically and mentally from all the “doing”, and what I need to do was rest in Him. Yet I felt all of this responsibility to accomplish the many things that I needed to do. I had so many things to “check off my list”. I had not yet spent quality, quiet alone time with God without interruption as I had planned, and it was getting late. There were many people I needed to pray for. I had a dinner to go to that night. (Notice how many “I’s” in the paragraph.) This day was supposed to be about God, and yet “I” seemed to be the central focus of my thoughts and plans.
God, on the other hand, was saying, “Be still and know that I am God.” REST! The Lord used my husband to reiterate what He had been saying to me. “REST!” He used my husband’s human voice of reason to “give me permission” to take a nap, to remind me that I am human. God created the concept of rest from the beginning of creation, and He Himself was our example. To deny myself rest was to deny God’s sovereignty and His wisdom. I was refusing to trust His ability to take care of me. When I refuse to rest even as my body is screaming for rest – which is God is telling me it is time to rest – then I am being disobedient to the Lord. I am saying, “I do not trust You, Lord. I trust my own strength to do what needs to be done.” This is not walking in the “fear of the Lord”, in reverence and obedience to Him.
Jesus says,
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30 NASB)
I came home pulled in the driveway at home, walked in the front door, went upstairs…and took a nap!
My plan for ProverbWise in April was to explore the concept of “the fear of the Lord” and to write a series of blogs on the topic. That has hasn’t happened yet. I had planned to be a lot further along in the process. However, the Lord needed to remind me again of the basics, the beginning of the concept of the “fear of the Lord”…Trusting Him in the simple things of life, like rest and prayer and listening to His voice when He says, “Time Out!”
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7).
Walking Together in the Path of Wisdom,
Kim