Raise your hand if you think that 2020 is the year that just keeps on giving! With all the activity going on in the world at large, it seems to be hard to find a moment to stop and gather your thoughts. If you’re anything like me, the last 6 months have been a blur, and finding a moment to pause and breathe has felt like grasping at straws.
If you’re anything like me, you may be left feeling tired and wondering where you can find a moment to pause, a moment to contemplate and a moment to find quiet and peace. What does it mean to selah?
Pause for a moment
Something I’ve learned in my 28 short years of life is to pause for a moment, even when it seems like seas of anxiety would drown me. Whether you’re drowning in financial strain, anxious about your health and the pandemic, or taking relational strain there’s a scripture that brings me calm in any season:
“Surrender your anxiety! Be silent and stop your striving and you will see that I am God. I am the God above all the nations, and I will be exalted throughout the whole earth” (Psalm chapter 46, verse 10).
The Passion Translation of Psalm chapter 46, verse 10 reminds me that the moments we take to pause are so much more than just “being still”. The moments that we take to pause are moments where we choose to actively let go of the things that worry us, those things that we are striving for and fighting against in our humanity. When we pause for a moment to surrender our cares, we allow God to step in and not only bear our anxieties, but we also allow Him to be exalted and praised no matter what we’re going through and in every season.
Pause in His presence
The moments we take to pause don’t have to be seen as wasted or unproductive moments. The moments we take to pause are moments that we can choose to pause in the presence of our Creator.
“Lord, you are my secret hiding place, protecting me from these troubles, surrounding me with songs of gladness! Your joyous shouts of rescue release my breakthrough. Pause in his presence.” (Psalm chapter 32, verse 7)
Anxiety, stress and life’s general nuisances can often get in the way of us finding our shelter, protection, rescue and joy in our Creator. We can get so caught up in life that we become reliant on ourselves to meet our needs and we forget to seek the presence and wisdom of our God who is far wiser than we could ever begin to comprehend. No matter what it looks like in your daily routine, create the space to seek Him out and have the expectancy of being in His presence.
Pause to praise
“But I will give all my thanks to you, Lord, for you make everything right in the end. I will sing my highest praise to the God of the Highest Place!” (Psalm chapter 7, verse 17)
Even in the moments when it seems like all hope is lost, pause to praise Him. There is both surrender and freedom when we choose to praise God despite our obstacles and fears. The truth is that it’s God who makes everything right in the end. Our moments of praise in the middle of challenges stretches our faith, causes us to actively seek His presence and find cause for gratitude when all else seems against us.
What season are you in right now? The intentional moments we have in our lives give us the opportunity to be expectant and hopeful. To selah has deep personal meaning for me. To take a moment from juggling the multiple areas of our life and create a space to seek God, contemplate His ways and find myself in His presence is something that I have to constantly remind myself to do. Selah is mentioned all of 74 time between the Psalms and Habakkuk. To selah is something that I have to constantly remind myself to do. How will you choose to selah?
Hailing from South Africa, Crystelda is an avid nerd and an unapologetic dreamer. With a BSc. Biological Sciences and BCom Hons in marketing, she has launched the Christian lifestyle blog - Selah Blogger and is the joint winner of the 2019 International Theology Award. The blog can be found at https://selahblogger.wordpress.com/ and her previous articles may be viewed at https://www.pressserviceinternational.org/crystelda-naidoo.html