Permission to Pause! Episode 3: Selah! A Thanksgiving Prayer!
Welcome to YOUR Permission to Pause.
I cried into the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. Psalm 3:4
I am not a big jewelry girl. I don’t have a big fat diamond on my hand, but I do have a few pieces of jewelry that are special to me. One is the necklace my husband gave me for our 30th anniversary. I’ll tell you a precious story about that on another episode, today as we get started on our journey together, I’m thinking of another gift from my honey. It’s a bracelet from Tiffany’s. Every girl’s heart goes pitter patter over a tiny blue box, right? This gift was a bracelet with a little heart charm engraved with the word “Selah”. It was to be a constant reminder to PAUSE!
God starts the very first book of the Bible teaching us about pause over and over. As God created the world, each time he completed some part of creation, He paused and said that it was good.
I remember my very first Jesus inspired “Selah”. I had just surrendered my life to Jesus and oh what a life He got from me! My marriage was in shambles, the career I had sacrificed literally everything for, was lifeless and headed nowhere. I was driving to my last corporate event through the Smoky Mountains in the splendor of Fall. The car ahead of me was making me crazy! It was going way to slow for my hurried timeline and there was no way for me to get around it! Oh My Gosh!! I am in a hurry!
All of the sudden I realized that the car ahead of me was full of nuns! NUNS!! And they were sightseeing! Mean really–sightseeing in the middle of the Smoky Mountains in the fall! Who knew?
I guess they finally got the message of my hurry as I was riding on their bumper. They suddenly pulled over. At the same time, I got the message as well. Embarrassingly, I stopped with them, and we paused together. They explained to me for the first time the word “Selah”. We chatted about the majestic colors, the low swing of the sky against the trees that rose up to meet the bright red, yellow, and gold of the Fall trees.
Terry Wardell‘s book Every Breath We Take shares about a “holy thirst” a “restlessness of heart” that can be never ending until it finds rest in God.
Most of us understand to some degree that we were created for intimacy with God and that without making room for that intimacy our life continually feels incomplete. Without that personal one on one, our faith life becomes more about performance than divine relationship.
God‘s purpose for pause was not about saying it is done, I am finished, it was about saying it is good! We all know a woman’s work is never done right? Every single day when we get up, we have a fresh “to do” list or maybe even a not so fresh to do list left over from yesterday. It is silly for us to think we will ever find the perfect time to “just be with Jesus” when the busyness stops, or the work is done. So, let’s take a “Selah” moment–right here, right now.
Let’s take a minute to say, “it is good.”
I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.
God‘s purpose for pause was not about saying it is done it is finished, it was about saying it is good. Just like our creator did, we have to choose “Selah”.
We have to choose to PAUSE, to stop, and simply see that it is good!
So, let’s stop and take a “Selah” moment right now friend.
Let’s PAUSE and be with Jesus!
Thank you Lord that the power I have as a praying woman is right here, right now! My life is not about saying “it is done”. Every day I have the gift of saying–It is GOOD!! Amen.
I cry to the Lord with my voice and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah Psalm 3:4
