The Benefit of Rest

And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: …

Mark 6:31

There is one pause in music of which the untrained singer does not know the value – the pause: it is not the cessation of the music; it is a part of it.

Before the tide ebbs or flows there is always a time of poise when it is neither ebbing nor flowing.

In a Christian life that is to be effective, there will always be the pause and the poise (balance; equilibrium).

The desert has been God’s training-school for many of His prophets – Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Paul. But not all who come from Arabia are prophets; and God has other schools. Before the years of witness, there are years of stillness. Every witness with a great message has these years. Let not the saints shrink from the discipline and training! The sight-less days will mean a grander vision; the silent years, the sweeter song. If the Lord puts you in the dark, it is but to strengthen your eyes to bear the glory that He is preparing for you; if He bids you be silent, it is but to tune your tongue to His praise. Remember that the pause is part of the music.

The great Composer writes the theme

And gives us each a part to play;

To some a sweet and flowing air,

Smooth and unbroken all the way;

They pour their full heart’s gladness out

In notes of joy and service blent;

But some He gives long bars of “rest,”

With idle voice and instrument.

He who directs the singing spheres,

The music of the morning stars,

Needs, for His full creation’s hymn,

The quiet of the soundless bars.

Be silent unto God, my soul,

If this the score He writes for thee,

And “hold the rest” play no false note

To mar His perfect harmony.

Yet be thou watchful for thy turn,

Strike on the instant, true and clear,

Lest from the grand, melodious whole

Thy note be missing to His ear.

– Annie Johnson Flint

• from Springs in the Valley (1968) by Cowman Publications, Inc.