Selah…Rest In Him

by Dina Branch

 At the beginning of every year during our 10 days of prayer,  our pastors encourage us to pray and search our hearts to find God’s word for us for the coming year. 

God gave me a word almost immediately.

That word was “Selah”. Not being totally sure what this meant, I did what I always do when I want to find something…I researched. I read biblical scholarly articles, searched the internet and even purchased two books about “Selah”. 

What I found was illuminating. 

It is used primarily at end of several chapters in the book of Psalms (believed to have been sung). This led some scholars to believe it was a “musical interlude”, “change in rhythm or melody” or “pause or rest”. This has led to belief that it’s a musical term,  indicating a rest for musicians or worshipers to stop and consider the Lord that they are worshiping. 

Since the beginning of the year,  I have been striving to find the time to rest in God; To truly hear what He is saying to me in this year……

Then came THE VIRUS. 

Rest and reflection seemed a thing to be put on the back burner until a time when I could slow down and think..but today I realized I have been going at this whole thing wrong. It’s not about my striving, or researching, or understanding what is happening even.

 It is about resting in HIM. 

Rest doesn’t have to live within what time we have left after a busy day/week/month or even year; rest can be as simple as stopping what we’re doing and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. 

So today, stop and listen to this with me: As we continually trust Jesus with our time and our thoughts, our strength is renewed. Just like a runner who continually needs to be hydrated,  we are refreshed when we incorporate rest with Jesus into the daily hum of our lives, instead of saving it for when we’re tired or when we have time.

 In this way,  we can live in a place of continual strength.