Still Water Moments - Part I

Psalm 23: 1-3a The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.  He restoreth my soul. -KJV

Welcome to the very first Still Waters devotional!  It is only fitting given the title, that the first devotional would be dedicated to describing still waters and their benefits.  In various scriptures, Christians are described as sheep and Christ is our great shepherd.  Psalm 23 states that our shepherd leads us beside still waters which could make one question, why specifically still waters?  

  In Hebrew, still waters is “Mai Menochot,” which literally translates to “restful waters”.  In today’s society, “rest” is sometimes looked upon disdainfully.  Hustling and being busy is what is glamourized which is a trick of the enemy to get us to avoid something God created and wanted us to partake in on a regular basis.  He literally modeled resting on the seventh day of creation!  Thus, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the scripture states, “… he leadeth me beside the still waters”, this implies that it may not be our natural inclination to go there.  While God is leading us to these “still water moments”, He is leading us away from the hustle and bustle within busy days that can feel like raging rivers that can cause us to be easily distracted and lose sight of Him.  These moments with Him are valuable because they recenter us to be Christ-minded as we continue to go about the day.  

I want to clarify that still water is not the same as stagnant water.  Merriam Webster defines stagnant as, “not flowing in a current or stream; not advancing or developing”. It implies being stuck, no movement and decay.  Stagnant water stinks, point blank period.  However, still water provides a healthy refreshing exchange for the partaker. 

We know that physically rest/sleep restores and refreshes our bodies.  Psalm 62:1 supports that our souls need rest as well as it states, “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.”  When we take the time to rest, reset and refresh with God each day, not only do we feel spiritually recharged, but it reminds us of the why behind what we do.  It reminds us that we are to be reflections of Christ to those we interact with and rejuvenates us to carry it out in our actions.

Reflection: What type of waters am I mostly in? Still, raging, or stagnant?