“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
Psalm 23:1-3, KJV
I used to read Psalm 23 and envision a sunny, tranquil meadow with a creek running through. I’d see myself laying in the grass, staring up at the pristine blue sky, the artistic wispiness of the clouds, basking in the warmth of the bright sunshine.
I always imagined the sounds of water trickling by, as the creek flowed through the meadow over rocks, around bends, and through this most serene place. There’s nothing quite as relaxing as the sound of flowing water, so it was the perfect backdrop in this place of tranquility and escape, or so I thought.
For literally my entire life until just recently (year 30) this was the vision I had in my head when I read this Psalm (and I’ve been in church my whole life, so you can imagine how many thousands of times I’ve read or heard these verses!) But just a couple of days ago, as I was praying to relearn how to commune with God—how to just be still and be with Him—without my mind wandering off to my lists of things I have to do and have given myself to do, this passage of scripture came to mind.
I was seeking a place of stillness, so this is where I returned. But in reading these verses again, I saw something I’d seen likely thousands of times but never fully understood: the waters are still. Still waters don’t make that peaceful and relaxing sound. In all honestly, the first thing I thought about was that still water attracts mosquitoes! NOT the picture of serenity I’ve had for all these years!
So I started pondering: if this is a place of rest and restoration, why would the waters be still? It hit me: it is only in still water that you can see your reflection.
God leads us to this place to get us out of our routines, quiet our minds and show us who and what we are truly reflecting in all that we have become and in all that we do each day.
He created us in His image, the perfect reflection of who He is. With the fall of mankind into an existence riddled with sin, that image has grown more tainted and more muddled with each generation. Even as believers, we can get so sucked into all that we do each day, all that we allow to influence us, all that we grow to aspire to and strive for that we start to only reflect the things we have and desire and aspire to be—not Christ. When that starts to happen, that’s when God gently takes us by the land and leads us away from all that to a place where we can see for ourselves what we’re reflecting and who we are becoming.
Maybe He wants us to see for ourselves so we can be convinced that the work He wants to do to mold us back into His image is necessary. It may require some chiseling, some reconstruction, some refining; but through that restoration process He saves our souls. He saves us from becoming something He cannot identify with, and in doing so, saves us from a life and an eternity without Him.
“And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:18, AMP
We must find this place regularly. We must consistently take an honest look at ourselves and our lives and let God do the restorative work required to preserve His image in us.
A valuable painting that has been exposed to time and the elements is taken off of display and into a place where it can be restored. The curator carefully inspects each aspect of the work and compares its current state to its original quality and brilliance. Then, she sets to work. The canvas may need to be reinforced. The colors and textures of the art may need some touching up and preservation. The restoration process doesn’t add anything new, it’s simply intended to bring out and preserve the beauty with which the original work was created.
“For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].”
Ephesians 2:10, AMP
Prayer was designed to be the daily place of communion with our Creator and Curator. When we withdraw from the demands of life—taking ourselves off of display or exhibit for a time—and retreat to the place of rest God has prepared for us, we can see for ourselves what we’ve come to reflect and choose to allow God to do the work required to restore His image in us so that we can go back to our lives and authentically display Him for every around us to see and admire. That’s the purpose, the muse behind the masterpiece that you are and that I am. Let’s remain true to it.