He Leads Me Beside Quiet Waters

(This is an older picture of Jeksa, but I do not have one from yesterday to share, you'll find out why, but I feel that this is a picture that reminds me to slow down and enjoy what I have. She is adorable.)

This morning was not my best. I snoozed and did not get up until 5:48 am! The only thing that got me out of bed was the fact that I did not want to miss my time with God. It is has been so great and I am not willing to compromise it.

Much of my time I find myself rushing, wanting to go onto the next thing. When I finish one thing I am racing to get to the next thing. I try to fit way too much in to my day so I end up being late to most things. I was looking in scripture for guidance on my need to be in a hurry and God told me to slow down.

Psalm 23:2-3 says "He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name's sake."

God wants us to have rest, He actually built it in to His creation schedule! (Genesis 2:2 "so on the seventh day He rested from all His work."). If God needs rest, we need rest.

"He makes me lie down in green pastures": I like to visualize this verse and my mind goes to that field in Twilight that Edward and Bella go to. That meadow is a sanctuary for them to get away from "real" life and pretend that they are not predator and prey for just a moment. All their cares go away and they are just in the moment, they're not in a hurry to get back to all the conflicts waiting at home. He also uses the word "makes," this tells me that if I don't take the opportunity for rest in my life, God will find one for me.

"Beside quiet waters": This verse does not say that God took us by the rushing river (pun intended), He guides us over to a place of stillness so our environment would cause us to slow down, not feel all energized and rushed to get to the next thing. When I was in high school I would go to this state park called Oak Mountain State Park. There was this really peaceful place I would hike to and go set up a blanket and read my Harry Potter books. I guess at home I was too distracted with all of the fun things going on, so I found a place by a quiet stream to do my reading. This is the place I am visualizing when I think of this verse.

"He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name's sake.": If we take the opportunities that God gives us for rest and slowing down, He will refresh you and it will be for the glory of God. I am a teacher, so I can get in a big hurry because I only have so much time with my students, a ton of material to cover, and the bells are coming whether I am ready for them or not. Some days I am so rushed that I realize I did not even take the time to visit with my students and see how they are doing. The days that I just stop worrying so much about what's on the agenda, it is so much more fruitful. I feel good about the way I engaged with my students and I am sure the students are happy with the interactions that took place.

Are you in a hurry a lot of the time, trying to get from one place to another? Do you think you could reevaluate your schedule to try and slow down? I know I can! I was at the park yesterday before work and I was rushing to walk Jeksa down there and to sneak in a picture for my blog and this gentleman who works at the park asked me to take his picture. I could have easily said "no, I'm in a hurry," but God told me, "It's okay, take a moment to take his picture for him." The whole interaction ended up taking about 10 minutes which I was freaking out about inside because I was so afraid I was going to be late for work, but God took care of it. There was hardly any traffic on the road to work and I got there in plenty of time. God's got this, I just need to let go!

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10.

The Lord wants us to live our life to the fullest and glorify His name in the process. Satan wants us to spend all of our time rushing from one place to another and not have time to serve others in the process. Who do you want to listen to? I want to follow God and slow down and I am sure you do too.

I would love to hear stories of how ya'll have listened to God about slowing down and the blessing He gave you for it. If you have no stories to share, try it and He will give you one.