The pause that refreshes

In silence
Solitude
Reflection

I read this passage:

    But now, this is what the LORD says—

he who created you, Jacob,

    he who formed you, Israel:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

2 

When you pass through the waters,

    I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

    they will not sweep over you.

and I pause.

I begin to understand again that ...

No matter what the circumstances or surrounds, God speaks.

He made you and me.

He formed us and is not surprised by who we are.
We don't have to be afraid.

We were bought with a high price so now we belong to the One.

He calls our name; he personally knows us.

We are his precious possession—in the place He has put us.

There will be deep waters and trying times.

But we are never alone or abandoned because He is there, too.

When the currents threaten to take us away,

they may tug and batter us but they cannot overwhelm us.

Thinking about that takes an hour. It's not new. But it comforts and energizes. Ah, God with us.

I love to hear from God
   in the depths and quiet of my soul.

Have you listened to the Still Small Voice lately?
What have you heard?
How has your soul been refreshed?

Do your Self a favor:

Pause.

Sit.

Meditate.

Read more:
*I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. Psalm 40:2 ESV

*The nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as dust on the scales. Isaiah 40:15 ESV

*But now, this is what the Lord says--he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." Isaiah 43:1-3a NIV

*Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! Romans 5:9 NIV

*I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation and tribe and language and people. Revelation 14:6 ESV

Moravian Prayer: We are but flashes in the span of your universe, Great Maker. Yet, we each have a cosmic reason for being, to be revealed in its own time. Let our flashes be noticeable and admirable, stimulating other flashes of blinding faith. Amen.