Still Water Moments - Part III

John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

In continuing our conversation about still water moments, let’s reflect on points made thus far.  Part I spoke of the reason why we need to have them.  Part II focused on when we have these moments and challenged us to be intentional about carving out multiple times in the day to acknowledge and spend time with the Lord.  Part III will focus on the conversational piece of these moments. 

Have you ever had a conversation with someone but it’s clear they are distracted and not hearing you?  Or how about the person that just wants to hear themself speak?  They’re just biding time waiting for you to pause so they can interject their opinions on the subject regardless of what you said because they weren’t actively listening.  There are also the times when a person may assume they know your point of view on a subject and overtalk you and take the subject and run with their own narrative.  I personally find these instances annoying and feel the person sees no value in what I’m saying.  It makes me wonder how God must feel whenever I list my requests during prayer but do not take the time to listen to Him.

Merriam Webster’s definition of conversation is: … an exchange of sentiments, observations, opinions, or ideas.

The theme of conversation is tied up in the word, exchange.  There is a give and take between two or more people when a productive conversation is taking place.  I dare say, when we are praying and having our conversations with the Lord, we should be doing more listening than speaking.  Since He is our Creator, He knows us better than we could ever know ourselves.  He is omniscient, (all knowing).  Thus, He sees every single detail of a situation we find ourselves in, such as the people involved; the effect it would have on us and our family; how it could affect us long term, etc.  Our view is limited, our thinking is limited, His is not.  Thus, when we pray about a situation, His guidance and solution will automatically take precedence over any solution we could come up with.  This is one of the reasons the bible says in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Just as we want to be heard during conversations, so does God and it is critical that we listen for His guidance.  The bible gives us direction about many things we face in life via accounts, parables and commands.  When we take the time to listen to God, He gives us direction AND insight on specific situations in our individual lives.  If we are truly saying He is the leader of our lives, we need to hear what His leading is for our lives.  When we listen to God, we position ourselves to experience and receive great things from Him.  For example, Psalm 85:8 says, “I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants- but let them not turn to folly.” In addition to peace, our faith and trust in Him grows, we are encouraged, we feel validated because we recognize He sees us, and we feel closer to God as our bond with Him deepens.  Clearly, we have nothing to lose and much to gain when we listen to God!

Reflection:  How often do I take the time to listen to what God has to say to me?  Is it difficult for me to follow His direction if it doesn’t make sense to me?

Still Water Moments-Part II

John 15: 5-6a I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; (NKJV)

Let’s continue our discussion of “still water moments” that we began last month.  The scripture reference makes it clear we are to be connected to Christ as He is where we get our vitality from. Let’s look closely at the word abide.  Bible Hub explains one of the Greek root words for abide is remain.  What this signifies is being in a constant state of conducting ourselves within Him in everything we do and speak.  This requires “still water” moments with Him throughout the day.  Think of how often you check in with your spouse, child, best friend, etc. throughout the day, how much more should we be checking in with Christ?

These moments will not look the same for each of us as we are unique individuals with different roles and responsibilities throughout the day.  However, what we do have in common is the need to be intentional about having these moments throughout each day, our well-being and that of those we encounter is dependent on it. I’ll use myself as an example.  Each morning when I wake up, I greet the Lord with thanksgiving for allowing me to see another day and acknowledge who He is.  I’m a fourth-grade teacher and Monday-Friday on my 40-minute drive to work, I start my commute while praying using the ACTS model of prayer, (ACTS stands for adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication).  During the supplication portion, I pray about the day ahead and ask God to make me sensitive to what He wants me to learn and observe about my students that day.  After prayer, I listen to worship music to help me focus on Christ as opposed to my flesh which would not help my students at all! 

By the time my lunch break rolls around, I am ripe for quiet and solitude and this is a time I set aside a few still water moments of refreshing.  These are vital for me before re-engaging with the students and finishing the school day.  When I’ve been sensitive to the Spirit during my workdays, He’s shown me the struggles of some of my students, such as the tallest student in the grade who walked with her shoulders hunched because she was ashamed of her height.  The straight-A student who gets anxious during a test.  The straight-A student who wanted to be seen as more than “the smart one”.  The student who hardly spoke for weeks yet opened up when his interest in dinosaurs and bugs was validated.  Then He gave me the words to say to encourage and build relationships with them.  I believe these were instances of the “fruit” referenced in the scripture.  I sometimes wonder what opportunities I missed when I didn’t take the time to refocus and instead taught in my flesh instead of allowing the Spirit to guide me. 

If the workday is particularly trying, I have an additional “still water” moment on the drive home from work and listen to what God may want to show me about that particular day.  I have more “still water” moments in the evening before bed when I try to read something.  Additionally, on the weekend I typically have more time to devote to commune with the Lord and enjoy sitting quietly to take the time to listen to what He has to say to me.  I also love to take occasional trips to the shore, one of my favorite places to be.  I can stare at the waves for hours and commune with the Father while being in awe of His grandeur and handiwork in the movement and sound of the waves.

In closing, we can choose to go through the motions each day in our own strength or live more purposeful, meaningful lives by welcoming Christ into our day and allowing Him to use us.  We must be intentional about having time with the Lord throughout the day for the benefits are endless and vital.  Scripture makes the alternative clear, we dry up and wither as a plant without sunlight and water. Since we are without sustenance in this state, we have nothing to offer others.  Moreover, we are desolate within ourselves.  However, we do not have to remain in that state.  2 Corinthians 12:9 says that His strength is made perfect in weakness and Psalm 23:3 says He will restore our souls, but it all starts with a moment.  A moment in which we humbly come to Him and acknowledge these things.  The beautiful thing about all of our moments with Him is while God doesn’t need us, He loves us and wants to spend that time with us, His dearly loved children.

Reflection: What times have I set aside in my day to commune and refresh with the Father?  Are there specific places I like to go to commune with Him?

Still Water Moments - Part I

Psalm 23: 1-3a The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.  He restoreth my soul. -KJV

Welcome to the very first Still Waters devotional!  It is only fitting given the title, that the first devotional would be dedicated to describing still waters and their benefits.  In various scriptures, Christians are described as sheep and Christ is our great shepherd.  Psalm 23 states that our shepherd leads us beside still waters which could make one question, why specifically still waters?  

  In Hebrew, still waters is “Mai Menochot,” which literally translates to “restful waters”.  In today’s society, “rest” is sometimes looked upon disdainfully.  Hustling and being busy is what is glamourized which is a trick of the enemy to get us to avoid something God created and wanted us to partake in on a regular basis.  He literally modeled resting on the seventh day of creation!  Thus, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the scripture states, “… he leadeth me beside the still waters”, this implies that it may not be our natural inclination to go there.  While God is leading us to these “still water moments”, He is leading us away from the hustle and bustle within busy days that can feel like raging rivers that can cause us to be easily distracted and lose sight of Him.  These moments with Him are valuable because they recenter us to be Christ-minded as we continue to go about the day.  

I want to clarify that still water is not the same as stagnant water.  Merriam Webster defines stagnant as, “not flowing in a current or stream; not advancing or developing”. It implies being stuck, no movement and decay.  Stagnant water stinks, point blank period.  However, still water provides a healthy refreshing exchange for the partaker. 

We know that physically rest/sleep restores and refreshes our bodies.  Psalm 62:1 supports that our souls need rest as well as it states, “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.”  When we take the time to rest, reset and refresh with God each day, not only do we feel spiritually recharged, but it reminds us of the why behind what we do.  It reminds us that we are to be reflections of Christ to those we interact with and rejuvenates us to carry it out in our actions.

Reflection: What type of waters am I mostly in? Still, raging, or stagnant?