Beside Quiet Waters: Psalm 23Sample

He makes me lie down

Before becoming a mom, I never knew how much another human’s napping could impact my day! I love playing with my kids, but when it’s naptime, it’s naptime. Despite any protests that they’re not tired, when 1:00 rolls around, my kids are both in their beds. I need the time to rest and recharge, and they need the sleep as well.

In reading Psalm 23:2, I can’t help but think about putting down a stubborn child for a nap. “He makes me lie down…” The Hebrew wording here conveys being compelled to rest without a choice. It denotes an event or occurrence outside of oneself that causes rest. In other words, the Psalmist is saying that under the care of God our Shepherd, we, as his sheep, don’t just rest when we decide we need it. In his love, God makes us lie down to rest when he knows we need it.

In many ways, motherhood forces us to slow down. Maybe we pull back from some of the work or social obligations we had before kids. Maybe we spend less time on the go as we rock a sleeping baby or play with a toddler on the playroom floor. Motherhood is certainly not easy. It is all-engaging and often extremely exhausting. But in so many ways, it changes our daily rhythms and forces us to adjust our pre-kid speed.

As a mom with a toddler and a baby, I’ve often struggled with the slower pace because it’s forced me to confront anxieties instead of running from them with busyness. I’ve struggled with boredom and restlessness and longed for life to get back to “normal.” But Psalm 23:2 reminds me that rest, even forced rest, is a gift from God that shapes and refines me. It reminds me that my worth is not tied up in what I do or produce but in the finished work of Christ’s death and resurrection.

Even if you feel you don’t want or need it, know that God uses slower rhythms to remind us of the spiritual rest he’s given us in Christ. God has given us spiritual rest in that there is nothing left for us to earn before God, for in Christ, we are eternally loved.

Today, if you feel restless or unproductive, see if you can bring yourself to thank God for the change in pace of this season. Remember that as you learn what it means to rest in God’s grace, you are being strengthened for seasons to come.