The Silence (and Stillness) Treatment

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 the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Psalm 23:1-3

The invitation into silence, into stillness

promises a restorative Soul-spa, free of charge, ours for the be-ing.

This silence is our daily need, as important as food and water.

This stillness is our daily need, as important as movement.

Actually, rest comes first.

"Rest" comes before "the rest" of our varied "to-do" lists.

Repetition of these verses

reminds us,

reassures us

of order,

of "first things first."

The Lord is my shepherd; Firstly, the Lord is my reliable caretaker of every need.

I shall not want. What more could I want? The Lord has me.

He makes me lie down in green pastures. The Lord takes stillness and rest seriously and will "make me" slow down using any means necessary.

He leads me beside still waters. After I lie down, the Lord will decide when I'm ready to rise and will ensure that I continue to focus on stillness.

He restores my soul. When I heed His way and His priorities, my soul is refreshed, renewed, restored and ready.

He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Only after my acknowledgement of Him, my stillness, my practice, and my restoration... does the Lord see that I am ready to start walking in the path He has for me, which is the path that glorifies Him.

Ponder the path of your feet and let all your ways be established.

Prov. 4:26

A preponderance of pondering can pave a peaceful path.

Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10

A peaceful path acknowledges the Peace Maker.

Nature knows

and shows

and teaches us about this yielding,

this submission.

Trees obey.

Seasons obey.

The wind and wave obey.

When a great windstorm on the sea arose, Christ arose and rebuked the wind, saying, "Peace, be still." And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Mark 4:39

Do we choose to obey?

When winds and waves arise in us,

in our lives, in our hearts or in our minds,

We can choose to be still

and choose to know that God is with us

and choose to allow Christ to calm the winds and waves in us

to bring about calm,

a great calm.

Gracious God, give us a daily Silence Treatment,

a daily Stillness Treatment.

Our peace depends upon it.