Chapter 35: A quiet place to reflect.
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Psalm 46: 1-3, 10-11
One of my favorite camp songs is “I love the mountains” by Gerrit Winterstein. The words are as follows:
I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills, I love the flowers, I love the daffodils
I love the fireside, when all the lights are low. Boom-de-a-da...
I love the ocean, I love the open sea, I love the forest, I love the bumblebees
I love the stars above, when night turns into day. Boom-de-a-da...
I love the sunshine, I love the butterflies, I love the windblow, I love the river flow
I love the city lights, when the moon is high. Boom-de-a-da...
I love the daisies, I love the sugar peas, I love the meadows, I love the summer breeze
I love to walk on by my head up in the sky. Boom-de-a-da…
This song used to be one of my favorite songs to close campfire with. We would sometimes have the kids exit silently (or quietly) while we repeated it and faded out the boom-de-a-das. The words are such figurative words, helping us to visualize all of the beautiful parts of the world. Our mighty God created such an amazing world for us! He made mountains high and rivers low. Desserts dry and marshland soggy and wet. He created people to live and build cities powerful and people to live in the country providing food and resources for others. I can’t wait to get to heaven and talk with God about His perfect design and plan for our world and universe. It’s amazing how He designed all parts of this world with a purpose and a plan. It’s fascinating how He designed each of us with a purpose and a plan. Some of us are able to live and thrive in crowded cities while others would go crazy having that many people around them. Some of us are built for wide open spaces while others would be uncomfortable with all the silence and space. Just like the story “The City Mouse and the Country Mouse”, people are made to enjoy different parts of the world.
When I was in college, it was the first time I ever lived in a “city”. Macomb, Illinois, is in no way a large city with the population being well under 20,000. Coming from a town of 1,500 though, this seemed really huge! I used to find a quiet picnic table outside of my apartment at night to sit on and look up at the stars to feel like I was part of the country again. People who came from Chicago to Macomb, however, felt like nothing was happening and like the whole town was full of country folk. Perspective is everything. It was a refuge to come home to my parent’s farm to breathe fresh air and not have neighbors close by. City friends would beg to come to our farm to get away and see a different side of life. They were always amazed at how peaceful, yet how busy farm life can be.
It doesn’t matter where you reside or what constitutes a refuge for you. What matters is that you take a moment to find your refuge and take the time to refresh your mind and spirit. For some, a retreat is a cup of coffee in a busy diner watching people rush by. For others, it’s sitting outside, feeling the breeze and breathing fresh air. While for others, it is feeling the pulse and heartbeat of a busy rushing city. In Psalms 46 it states, “Be still and know that I am God.” If we do not pause for a moment to be still, completely quiet and focused, we will find ourselves much too busy to hear God speak. God promises that He will be exalted over all of the nation and the earth. He guarantees that He is always with us, even if mountains crumble and the world is torn apart. Every day we must take time out to focus on being still. Mr. MDMM needs a hike to clear his mind. I used to tell him when he was starting to lose focus in life that he needed a hike, and it wasn’t always just to get him out of the house for a bit, but also to get him outside of his own head and find peace. I need to get out and do something productive that doesn’t require much thinking like gardening or mowing. Some of my best thoughts and plans have come to me while hoeing a row of vegetables or mowing a yard. “Be still and know that I am God.” Find what you need in life to have that stillness and quiet. Even if you can’t take a moment to just sit still and listen for His voice try to do an activity or project without your music playing so your mind can reach a quiet and reflective place.
No matter how busy our lives may be, we need these moments of peacefulness. When Covid-19 halted all of our normal life plans and goals, we were all forced to reconsider what is important in life. Many lost jobs and housing. All with children were made to homeschool. Activities and church functions stopped abruptly. Stress abounded. So did peace. Not rushing out the door at the start of the day, not running in late in the evening and trying to force supper and homework and family time into a short time span, taking time to sit and learn with your children, enjoying the moments of reading under the shade of a tree together, all of these unexpected blessings were found and abounded. Drastic changes that were stressful happened in our own life, but the fun we had learning together and taking actual time to spend with one another gave us hope and comfort. Our family had the opportunity to read together and pray together, to learn school work and life skills together. We were dealt a blow to our financial life, but were given a stronger family life in return. In all of these moments and stresses, we turned to God. We knew He was and is with us always, although we saw the mountains crumble and the earth tear apart, we felt His presence and guidance. If we had focused on the worries instead of the comfort of His provisions, if we had not taken a moment to be still and know that He is God, we would not have made it through the darker moments. Thanks be to God that He is always with us and will never leave us. Thanks be to God that He created the differences in our world for our enjoyment. Thanks be to God that He created each of us differently and with different purposes and plans for His people. With God as our guide and our comfort, what can we fear?
When life offers you a plan different than you had planned, take a moment to pause and quiet your body and mind. Allow your soul to find peace in God alone and in the hope of the Savior, Jesus Christ. Enjoy the mountains, enjoy the rolling hills. Breathe in the flowers and the daffodils. See the fireside and the city lights. Take time to enjoy every bit of the world that God has made. Be still and know that God is in control and that He alone made the world for our enjoyment and for us to care for. He made every single person with a purpose and a plan. Find the quiet and calming presence of God and breathe. Focus on your need for a quiet place to reflect and enjoy the rewards of that reflection.
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