We’d just finished chores and were returning to the house from the barn. I paused momentarily to bask in the beauty. With snow filtering down and blowing across the meadow, it looked like a scene from an old western movie. While the splendor is etched in my mind, I wish I’d had my camera to take pictures that I could share with you! The best I can do is to draw you a picture with words:
Our log cabin is in the forefront of the scene before me with the blacksmith shop housing our wooden wagon and the outhouse privy in the background. To my right stands our shelter, constructed of rustic logs and limbs, providing winter protection for a covered buggy and some horse-drawn farm implements. The old horse harnesses hanging from the side rails of the shelter are covered with a light dusting of snow.
The blowing snow creates a semi-translucent veil across the meadow, giving the illusion that this tranquil scene is ½ mile away; yet it is only a few yards in front of me. This “western village” that normally hustles and bustles with activity is serene today. The mercantile must be closed due to the heavy snow and the customers nestled into their homes baking, reading and playing checkers next to the warmth of their wood-burning stoves!
While it had stopped snowing by this time, Berea , our Border Collie, and I went for a walk in the winter wonder land the next morning. I took my camera this time:
One of my best friends ever, Berea !
The village is still pretty quiet!
Nope, no one is working today either!
The stories they can tell!
Waiting for the summer hay.
The miles that I have traveled are many!
Battened down and nestled in!
On those days when everything seems to have stopped, do you take advantage of the opportunity to bask in our Maker’s glory which surrounds you? For many years, I went so fast that I often didn’t notice His splendor. The responsibilities of life seemed to crowd in so tightly that I often missed the occasions for reflection and rest set before me.
In order to get my attention, Father would often put Psalm 146:10 on my heart:
Be still and know that I am Lord!
In an effort to be obedient, I would sit before the Lord and force myself to “be still”. While my body was inactive, time and again my mind simply would not shut off! I recall a particularly restless time in my life when I was so over-whelmed with responsibilities, decisions and heartache, Psalm 146:10 came to my mind once again. In my effort to “Be still,” I could hear as clear as a bell, “Bonnie, stop striving!”
I didn’t get it! I thought I was supposed to make myself “be still.” I opened my Bible to Psalm 146:10 and re-read the verse. I looked up the meaning of “Be still,” and discovered that in its original language it means, “stop ceasing, put an end to your self-efforts”!
It was a revelation moment for me. I understood in a deeper way that:
- I can’t trust in my own strength.
- I can’t rely on my emotions.
- I can’t fix the past.
- I am to walk by faith and remember that I am not God.
- The only Sovereign One is dependable.
The future is His! He reigns as King of kings, and Lord of lords. Rest is found in this reality. Even when it doesn’t look or feel like it, goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life (Psalms 23:6).
Stop striving, my friend and know that He is God!
Whole-Heartedly,
Bonnie
P.S. Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/. You may also contact me at:
Bonnie Jaeckle
In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life
Diagonal Progress
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