Waters Of Rest

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Psalm 23

He is my Shepherd. He guides me, directs my path, watches over and cares for me. He provides lush, green pasture for me to lie down in, rest and enjoy.
In the Hebrew, "beside still waters" means "beside waters of rest."  How wonderful that is!
He leads me beside waters of rest.
He restores my soul.

Sometimes, I get so busy with life; with the blessings and the trials, that I lose my way, my focus. I become weary, discouraged, and  frustrated.  I pile too much on my plate and then I long for the day when I have nothing to do and I can just rest.
This is not the way God intended this to be.
Life is busy. I personally am wife to a man whom I adore, mommy to four wonderful children, teacher to those same children, manager of our home, daughter, friend and sister, blogger, handmade artist, photographer, and most important, child of God to be used however the Lord God chooses.
There are those rare and precious moments in which the Lord gives me time to just sit and do nothing, but those are rare.
The times that are even more precious than those, are the rest of my days when I am physically and even mentally busy, but am still and peaceful within. "He restores my soul."

Part of having that peace within is following Him, where He leads.
I am still learning in this area and suppose I always will be, to some extent. I pile things on my plate and say "yes" to many because my heart wants to do it all. However, I am learning to follow where He leads and to say "no" otherwise. There is wisdom in this place and there is peace.
And in those seasons where He leads and uses me in many areas, saying "yes" to many people and things.....there is still peace, because He is leading me.

Another part of having this peace is communing with Him daily.
My days are busy and many times, very hectic. So, many times, I do not have this "quiet time" that we so often hear about. Taking time out of your day to sit quietly with and before the Lord is wonderful and we should do our best to carve out this time in our day. However, He should be apart of our day.....always. He should be the very reason we are living, breathing, and doing every thing that we do; big things, little things, mundane things....all of it is for His glory.
If we acknowledge Him in all that we do; praise Him in all that we do; give Him thanks in ALL things, then we will find ourselves beside those waters of rest.
"He restores my soul."

Our family had the wonderful privilege of visiting some dear friends this past week. We have taken our family trip to see them every year since they moved away. They are that special to us.
While there, my friend and I got to steal a bit of time alone together with a cup of coffee. I cherish these times with her. I am not sure that she will ever know how much the Lord has used her to restore my soul over these cups of coffee.
She reminded me of this verse and the peace that the Lord brings.  He is Lord God, Creator, my Savior! I am His child; His creation. He is my maker. He will do with my life what He chooses and because I know who He is and His love for me....this alone brings me great peace.
She reminded me that He is always good, whether He chooses to make me lie down in green pastures or walk through the fire. He is still good.
All He does is for my good and even more than that, His glory.

God is good. If our lives are super busy with lots of different things, and if this is where He has led us for this time, then He will give us all that we need for this season. Even amidst the craziness, if God has led you there, you will have peace.
If you have no peace and are stressed out and anxious within about everything you have going on in life, then maybe you have allowed things in that God has not led you to do.
Pray, seek and know when to say "no."
God is good. He is God! He has it covered.
It is not all about us. There is wisdom in saying "no" when God leads. Maybe He has plans for someone else to be used, blessed, taught, etc.

Oh, Lord, you are so good. You are my strength, my comfort, my peace. My cup overflows.


"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
-Psalm 23

Rest, peace, & blessings,
Jenny