Pies are baking; apple bread rests, waiting its turn for the heat of finishing.
It is welcome quiet that envelopes this house.
There is more to be done, but a weariness hinting of illness causes me to sit in the quiet. I choose to sit and wait while the pies cook in the oven and the recognition of abundance cooks in my heart. I will wait until they are finished before I start the scurry of cleaning and tackling the ever-mounding pile of must-dos and want-to-dos that spill out from every corner. I am tempted to turn on gentle music that lullabyes my heart, but I find the discipline to say no to even that.
It is not often that I sit, waiting. I am not a good waiter. Sitting quietly is not what I do naturally. My habitual mode is to multi-task and multi-think. The usual result is that things get done, or half done, but in the settling dust that is kicked up, it becomes clear that I always leave something behind.
He leads me beside quiet waters. Psalm 23:2
Mĕnuwchah is the Hebrew word used here for resting place; resting; quietness. The NAS also translates it as comforting; permanent.
If the Lord is my Shepherd, then I go where He leads, and He leads me beside resting, alongside quietness. And this is the place where He does His gentle work, where He restores my soul. (v. 3). Then, and only then, am I led in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. When I can be still long enough to listen, to drink in His words and wait for Him to move my heart, then I hear Him and
no longer leave Him behind.
Thank you God, for quiet moments, for permanent comfort, for rest.
