Sunday Afternoon Tea - Selah

Recently I was watching a news report about the air pollution in major cities clearing up as millions of people were required to stay home.  Factories were closed and roads carried far less commuters.  The reporter said it was as if the earth was healing as the work of mankind came to a standstill.

I thought about how people all over the world had to bring a sudden stop to their overly busy lives.  Even those people who were used to staying at home often feel as if time is standing still.  When will this be over? What will the future hold?

I was praying about this, asking God for direction and wisdom, when I heard a word come in that Still Small Voice... Selah.  That was it?  That was God's wisdom in this time of pandemic?  Selah?  Like the word in the Psalms?

I knew this concept was one my husband had talked about in the past so I asked him what the word meant.  He looked up from his newspaper and said, "Pause and reflect". Oh!  God does not want me to worry about what comes next past the crisis, nor to think of how the world may change, not even to try to figure out how all of this happened.  I was... and we are... to use this time to pause and reflect. 

 I thought of David... the shepherd, musician, poet, prophet, king... who wrote many of the Psalms that bring us peace and lead our hearts Home.  How he was a flawed but fearless man whose life was often spent in battling enemies.  He knows a thing or two about trusting God in the midst of the storms of life.

The Psalms were (and are) the Psalter of the Hebrews.  Truth was handed down from one generation to another when singing the songs of their faith.  Their history.  What God had done before them and how they can depend on Him every step of the way.

When saying or singing the words, there are times they were instructed to pause... and reflect.  That is what He is wanting us to do in this time of a world wide pandemic.  One which brings the thought of death and the afterlife to those who may have never considered it before.

He wants us to think of His will for our life, yes.  He wants us to remember the fires which He has brought us through already, yes.  He wants us to trust Him for our future, yes.  But what is He asking us to do in the midst of this worldwide crisis?  He is asking us to pause... to stop what we have been doing... to be silent.. to reflect on... Him.

After all, He is the central person in the Psalms and He is the central figure in History.  Instead of looking at the pandemic and the infected and the dead and the economy and the changes... we are to look toward Him.  If we, like Peter, take our eyes off of Him and onto the stormy waves, we will sink into the deep waters of fear and anxiety and worry. 

We must not sink when our greatest legacy to family and friends can be the peace we have as we walk through this storm.  We can have that peace that passes all understanding because we know the peace Giver.  Our God.  Our Savior.  Our Friend.  Our soon coming King.

This is a time for us to stop and ponder what the Word of God says.  He is certainly getting the attention of many who rarely give Him a thought.  How much more those of us who love Him and want to follow Him should be pausing... and reflecting... at this time in history. 

Selah

Note:  Selah can also mean praise in Hebrew.