SELAH | Defining Rest In The Age Of ProductivitySample

Stop and listen.

We live in a society that glorifies productivity. Our lives are built around what we do and how we can build our own legacies with the things we produce. We strive to create something bigger and better, to expand and to popularize and, in turn, to become more than what we think we are. The endless process of production leaves no room for rest, and we find ourselves exhausted, pinned to our phones on vacation, feeling both overwhelmed and left behind, unable to catch a breath.

It’s in this place that God calls us to a life of Selah. The Hebrew word, which most commonly translates to “Stop and Listen”, is placed strategically among the Psalms of the Old Testament to force a pause among worshippers. When God calls us to stop, and to listen, He’s calling us to a place of rest attainable in a kitchen or a library or a cubicle. It only takes a moment to pause and tune into what God is saying about your circumstance and His goodness.

Today, stop and listen to this: Even though God’s first orders to man in Genesis revolved around expansion, He only gave the orders after he had blessed Adam. Man’s blessing didn’t come from what he produced, rather, what he produced stemmed from his blessing. 

Let that blessing fuel your work, so that striving ceases and what you produce comes out of a place of rest.