Rest in Me

I love music.  Growing up I always listened to it, but I guess my real passion for it didn't begin until I was around 14 years old.  My sister wanted voice lessons, and of course, being the youngest sibling I wanted whatever my older sis wanted (it was bound to be good no matter what:)  So along our 3 1\2 years of voice lessons I gained such an appreciation for music!  The simple notes played on a piano would open up a whole new scale of lessons for my instructor to teach me.

However I have never looked at music the way my devotions did this morning.

"In the melody of our life, the music is separated here and there by rests.  During these rests we foolishly believe we have come to the end of the song.  God sends us times of forced leisure by allowing sickness, disappointed plans, and frustrated efforts.  He brings a sudden pause in the choral hymn, and we lament that our voices must be silent.  We grieve that our part is missing in the music that continually rises to the ear of our Creator.  Yet how does a musician read the rest?  He counts the break with unwavering precision and plays his next note with confidence, as if no pause was ever there."
Streams in the Desert  By L.B Cowman

God knows how to direct the music in our lives, but we must learn to follow His pattern and the flow of the music to be prepared for a rest, the exact moment when he needs us to be patient.

"There is no music in a rest."  You may say, but don't forget- a rest is necessary in the making of music.  The process is often too slow for our liking and painful, yet God patiently works and teaches us.

"Called aside-

From the glad working of your busy life,

From the world's ceaseless stir of care and strife,

Into the shade and stillness by your Heavenly Guide

For a brief time you have been called aside.

Called aside-

Perhaps into a desert garden dim;

And yet not alone, when you have been with Him,

And heard His voice in sweetest accent say:

"Child, will you not with Me this hour stay?"

Called aside-

In hidden paths with Christ your Lord to tread,

Deep to drink at the sweet Fountainhead,

Closer in fellowship with Him to roam,

Nearer, perhaps, to feel your Heavenly Home.

Called aside-

Oh, knowledge deeper grows with Him alone;

In secret oft His deeper love is shown,

And learned in many an hour of dark distress

Some rare, sweet lesson of His tenderness.

Called aside-

We thank you for the stillness and the shade;

We thank you for the hidden paths Your love has made,

And, so that we have wept and watched with Thee,

We thank you for our dark Gethsemane.

Called aside-

O restful thought- He doeth all things well;

O blessed sense, with Christ alone to dwell;

So in the shadow of Your cross I hide,

We thank you Lord, to have been called aside."

By John Ruskin