Joyspring

Tired and looking for a place to sleep, she rested in a pool, still and deep.
Reflections flickered across her face. Sheep wandered into this quiet space.

STILL WATERS
He makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. - Psalm 23:2-3
For I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child. - Psalm 131:2

After heavy rain or a turbulent tumble down mountains and gorges a stream becomes heavy with sediment, trees and boulders. It needs to unload or it will become clogged and choked. Its life giving properties will become useless and even destructive. I saw the reality of this when as a university student I joined a field trip to study the impact of water erosion in steep hill country that had been denuded of its forest cover. The streams crisscrossing the valley carried large quantities of sediment especially in times of heavy rain. One of the tests we carried out was collecting the stream water in glass jars and letting them sit undisturbed for several days. In the still water the sediment settled, first the heavy particles and then finally the very fine particles. The cloudy dirty water became clear. It has become a very tangible picture for me of what it means to be still before God.

“I have stilled and quieted my soul,” the psalmist wrote. As I become still, as I let my thoughts settle, the clamour of the demands, needs and frenetic activity of my mind quieten. I find I am in a better place to hear “the still small voice of God”, just as Elijah heard the still small voice after the thunder, the howling wind and storm . In the practice of internal stillness and often external silence too we can tune in to the whisper of God.

David, the shepherd, understood that sheep only drink from still clean water. They need the quiet and unhurried pace to truly relax and drink. God knows this is our need too.

Joyspring comes to rest in the stillness of a lake. I love being beside lakes. I love the gentle lapping of the water and the beauty of the reflections. Sometimes my thoughts turn to Jesus beside the lake of Galilee. I wonder if He stood on the edge and skipped stones across the surface. Did He stand or sit enjoying the sunset and the stillness? I know He built a fire to roast some fish and share a meal with His friends. I’ve done that too. I wonder what He thought and what they talked about. Here is a picture of warm, unhurried friendship.

Like the hush that descends on a completely still lake, stilling my soul in the presence of God brings a hush and an expectancy that in the quiet I will meet with God in unhurried friendship. Learning to be still, to wait in silence on God has been a spiritual discipline that is taking a life time to cultivate. For me, it is the means to becoming more aware of God’s presence and gentle promptings in my life. I became more attuned to His heart.

Being able to sit beside a lake and absorb the stillness and beauty around us is not always an option. In fact it is something of a luxury for city dwellers, however, learning this art of being still can bring us in touch with God’s presence and life giving river wherever we are, even in the midst of a busy café!

“Be still and know that I am God,” wrote the Psalmist in the middle of great turmoil. The mountains shake, the waters roar and as the psalm progresses the nations rage at war. It seems to me to be a Psalm of our times. We have had mountains shaking with rolling earthquakes, cities shaken, catastrophic storms and around us, nations are raging in war. Yet in the midst of all this turmoil the Psalmist declares that God is his refuge, his strength, his ever present help. God is solid, dependable, unshakeable and ultimately in control of our lives, our cities, the economy and our nation. In fact the Psalmist notes there is right in the centre of this city under siege, a river – the river of God. There is a water supply, there is life and sustenance. For a walled city, a fortress such as Jerusalem to hold out against raging nations, it needed a water supply. More than that it needed God to step into the turmoil.

Our world is often in turmoil and our personal world can feel like it is being assailed on all fronts by many things, from a raging enemy to events and circumstances that shake us and fill us with dread. Yet in the midst, if we will be still, if we will stop and look, there is a river that will make us glad. A river of God’s love and grace that is within us to sustain us, bring us courage, hope and life. That river is God himself. He is our source, our strength and our hope. In the middle of the storm is the still quiet voice of God.

Pause now, stop and breathe. Read Psalm 46 and allow the words of the Psalm to flow over you. See God as your ever present help in times of need. Be still and know that He is God. He rules the nations, He created the earth, He defends us, comforts us and provides for us. As you sit with Him, draw from His strength – you have the found the river that makes us glad, the source of our hope. Drink deeply!