Selah

Selah

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

I KNEW THAT FALL was going to be a busy one for me and my family. After having released a book and planning for several speaking engagements, I purposely left time and space in my schedule to be home and have downtime. But as the first several weeks of the fall chugged along, I found myself frustrated that I was still feeling tired and exhausted mentally, even with all the “down” time in my schedule.

I wondered how it could be, that although I had planned to rest physically, my mind was often still unsettled and racing, thinking of all the things that needed to be done each day. As I took my frustration to God in prayer, I realized that while I had planned for time to physically rest, I needed to also find a way to rest my mind and soul. Selah, a pause and a time to reflect on who God is and all he has done for my spirit. I determined a couple of times a week to put my phone on silent and lie down to rest my brain in the afternoon. Even if it was just for twenty minutes. I found that when I did this I felt more peace and less anxiety as I went throughout my days. My mind began to calm and not race quite as often. Although it wasn’t perfect and I still had my frantic moments, creating a rhythm of selah allowed me to actually get more accomplished with less stress and strain.

Rest is not something only our bodies need, but our minds and spirits as well, and if we ignore any area of our well-being, we’ll find ourselves worn out and frustrated. Remembering to rest our minds and spirits in the truth of God’s Word is just as important as resting our physical bodies. Selah is a rhythm of life that is regularly overlooked in our busy culture, but not by our God. He knows what we need, better than we often know ourselves.

Lord, thank you for quieting us with your love. May we take time to pause and allow you to refresh our souls. Amen.

-Kendra

One Good Step: How can you start to incorporate a selah rhythm into your life? What may you need to give up or add to do this?