Holy-Traders-Logo-2021

He Makes Me Lie Down

“He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.” Psalms 23:2

 

He Makes Me Lie Down

 

Last year Instagram and Facebook were all abuzz with people sharing their “words of the year,” a word that people had picked as their personal mantra for the new year. I loved the idea because it wasn’t so much a resolution that probably won’t be met, but instead more of a constant reminder throughout the year of what I wanted to focus on and what was important to me.

 

The Inspiration

 

Inspired by this idea, I also decided to pick a single Bible verse each month that spoke to me and focus and model my month around it.

 

This month I chose Psalms 23:2

 

“He makes me lie down in green pastures.”

 

I came upon this verse sometime last year while listening to a podcast that mentioned it. I liked it. Later that day, I listened to a completely different podcast, and they said it also. While listening, I was cleaning under my couch. Among all the rest of the clutter and lots of German Shepard hair, way in the back was a holy card with a picture of the Good Shepherd. On the card was Psalms 23. When I hear something three times in a row, I always feel like the Holy Spirit is trying to get my attention.

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As human beings, we set ourselves out on a trajectory in life. Although where we see ourselves going in the future may change throughout our lives, we’re always trying to get somewhere. We fixate on striving towards or for something. When are we supposed to stop striving and start abiding instead? It’s a question I’ve asked myself a lot in the past year. And maybe it’s not entirely up to us. Perhaps He makes us lie down.

 

The Dilemma

 

As a parent of three little ones, I can tell you; little children never want to rest. You need to make them lie down. For their own good. Maybe also for my husband’s and my own sanity as well. But primarily for their own good. A good parent knows when to make their children rest.

This month I’ve decided to focus on resting and abiding, to try and charge myself for the new year ahead.

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I’m reading more books, both to myself and my little girls. I’m focusing on going to bed earlier, cooking healthier meals, learning to bake bread, decluttering my home so that it feels more like a place that I’m happy to rest and abide in. We don’t know what this year will bring, but I’m choosing to ease myself and my family into it.

 

For Now

 

It’s hard, and it feels uncomfortable when we log onto social media a dozen times a day and see the success of so many others that we both know and don’t know; it feels entirely counterintuitive for not wanting to strive. But for now, I’m going to lie down.