SCRIPTURE: Stop striving and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 NASB
THOUGHT: I read a really great blog the other day on the Hebrew word that is translated “stop striving” or “be still” in Psalm 46:10. The word is “raphah” and means something closer to “relax and let go” than “be still.” Those are two very different things, one active, one passive; one requiring trust and the other simple obedience. You can be still and actually keep holding on to all of the things you are anxious about, but it’s hard to relax and let go of them without doing just that. God is saying he’s got this (whatever we’re so anxious about); he’s got us in his hands since the moment we asked him to be Lord of our lives.
I have learned a great deal about the spiritual life from nature, and today’s bit of poetry is no exception. It examines those little fluffy seeds that fly through the air to replant themselves. They are actually, technically dead as the plant has lived its cycle when seeds are blown by the wind to a new destination. But then, the miracle. They land in a place where the germ of life in the seed can fall into the ground and live.
Whether living again refers to our eternal life in heaven, or to another of the many ways in which we “die” and live again in this lifetime – to a dream, or an expectation, or because of a loss, or in spite of our hard work toward a goal – there are many opportunities to learn this little lesson of faith.
It didn’t ask to be born
Amy Clemens “LESSON OF THE SEED WITH WINGS” 10/9/04
It didn’t ask to die
It didn’t strive to grow its wings
It never “learned” to fly
Someone with Holy Purpose
Some Master of Design
Knew the cosmic recipe
By which the seed defined
Its purpose here on earth
So without asking why
It lived, and died, and took the wind
And in so doing graced my eye
And it will someday live again
And so again will I
PRAYER: Oh God, in my better moments, I have stopped striving. I have relaxed into your care, letting go, trading posing and performance for your purposes. I will keep those little seeds with wings in mind. They float effortlessly on your breeze, unworried and unhurried to an unknown destination. And you bring life, as you always do.
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ABOUT ME:
Blogger Amy Clemens is the author of Walking When You’d Rather Fly: Meditations on Faith After the Fall. In it she explores childhood sexual abuse and how it impacted her faith (or lack thereof) for four decades. You’ll find not only her story, but better yet, the Big Story of God.
Check out Walking When You’d Rather Fly, and learn more about the book and Amy’s other ministries. You will also find her devotional work at Words of Hope.
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