Graze: To feed on growing grasses.



The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.

-Ps. 23:1-6

Growing up on a farm, I used to watch the cows, sheep & horses graze in the pasture. Each morning we would open the gate to the barnyard and they knew there was freedom from that small pen they were in. They also knew there was nice green grass beyond the barnyard. Once the gate was open, look out because those animals wanted to get where the tall, green grass grew – the pasture! They would take off sometimes even running up the old fenced lane that went up over the hill through the cornfield to the lush green pasture on the other side of the farm. There they would graze for a while then lay down and rest for a while then graze some more. They did this all day long. Come evening we would go over to the pasture’s edge and call the cows – 'come boss, 'come boss. They would gather at the pasture gate. Sometimes we would have to go round up a few stragglers and when all were accounted for, we’d open the lane gate and back over the hill they would go to the barnyard for the night. The next morning was the same routine, day after day. What a life, huh?!

Oh that we could just graze and rest in shady green pastures all day long! But we can rest and graze in God’s green pastures and restore our souls . . . The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. (Ps. 23:1) I believe God wants us to slow down and “rest” and “graze” and “feed” on His Word. Life throws so many things our way and we are so busy – busy doing good things. But are we running on empty a good share of the time? Are we feeling stretched to extreme? Are we content with who we are in God’s divine providence? Slow down and take some time to just leisurely graze, rest a while, then graze and feed on the good things God has provided for you. Graze, rest, and enjoy the “shady green pastures” of God’s abundant love, grace, and mercy.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Be still and know . . .


I would like to be sitting on the bank of this stream. It looks so peaceful, relaxing, and beautiful! It is there at a place like this that I sense an awesome awareness of God – “who” and “what” He is! I can picture myself sitting there in the quietness of the moment taking in the scenery with all of the beauty of God’s creation – the rippling steam, the hills, the trees, the moon, the stars, the clouds, the birds in flight and I know God made all of this!  It’s at a place like this that I can settle in and say as Psalms 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.”

But what about when I am in the middle of my busy “rat-race” of a day??  Some days are quite the opposite of the serene, peaceful setting above.  I love the above picture and want to “engrave it in my mind” for those busy, hectic days so I can, in the midst of my whirling world, take a moment and go back to this moon-lit stream in my mind and remember to . . . “be still, and know that He is God”!!! 

It is not “me” and what "I" am doing or where "I" am going but life is about "God".  Who He is, what He has planned for me, who I am in His eyes, where I am this very moment and what I am doing to make a difference in my little world.  God has given me a new “lease on life” since my brain surgery in December, and I want every moment to count as “God Moments”! I want to look through "His eyes" and see my little world as He sees it. I want to see the opportunities to share my faith in God with those I come into contact with and share God's wonderful love, grace and mercy. 

 In the busyness of our days, the problems and trials we need take a mini-vacation to that "moon-lit stream" and listen to the rippling water and take in the quietness of the moment and "be still, and know that He is God"!  Go ahead . . . you deserve a vacation!
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