God is amazing!  There are not enough words in our English language to describe his greatness.  There is one word that is used over and over again mainly in the Psalms that gets very little attention.  I would like to use this word this week to inspire us to live a life of reflection.  Seventy-one times in scripture the word Selah is used.  It’s one of those words that has lost its meaning over time, but we can make some assumptions based on where the word and how the word was used in scripture.  Selah was a musical directive inspiring the singers and musicians to play a certain way.  Most likely to pause or sustain the notes in a crescendo (play louder) at the end of a stanza.

Reflecting on the Past Can Move You Forward in Your Future

Normally, I encourage people to look forward at where they are going rather than reflect on their past except when they need to.  Let me explain.  If you know me than you also know that I love technology, but there is one area where we need to be very careful.  Having our phones and tablets by our side at all times to fill up the dead spots in our lives can also have a negative affect.  Because God speaks to us in our silence, and if we don’t have quiet times in our day then when are we allowing God to speak to us?

Selah is a Time to Actively Rest

Selah reminds us that in the middle of this great song of worship, we need to stop to reflect and think about the one that we are worshipping.  We need to allow him some time and space to reveal to us something about what we have just sung.  Selah is a time of reflection.  A time to remember what God has done and what he is doing.  It’s a time to be thankful and grateful for how far you’ve come while anticipating where he will lead you next.  Most of all Selah is the time we take to rest, but not to shut down it’s an active rest.  No agenda, no plans and no thinking about it.  It’s a genuine moment to allow God to replenish us.

What is Fueling Us to Our Destination?

If we are not allowing God to replenish us regularly, than do we believe he is our source or do we really believe we are doing everything in our own strength and he is just along for the ride? What can be more arrogant than driving past all the gas stations when your tank is clearly on empty, but because your so focused on your destination you fail to fill up your tank so that you can make it to where you are going?  Selah.

God is the Great Conductor

It is not a coincidence that God gave specific instructions to rest.  A day in the week, the seventh year and the seventh seven year.  Sometimes the best way to move forward is to reflect on how faithful God has been in your past and to allow him to direct you towards your future.  We are never alone and he will always give us exactly what we need to succeed, but we must take moments of Selah to allow him time to show us exactly what to do.  You know when you really think about it maybe God is really the conductor in a great orchestra and we are his instruments.  He directs and leads each of us to play our instrument in a certain way.  Selah is that moment that while playing between the notes we take to look back up to the conductor to see if there are any other directions or changes he is giving.  We are merely instruments in his great hands!