His Steadfast Love Reaches to the Skies

Intentionally Setting Aside Time and Energy So We Can Lead Quiet Lives as His Children

Whenever I think about God’s steadfast, covenant love, I feel a sense of peace and rest. I often reflect on passages that remind me of the vastness of His love.

I think of the lyrics to the song, which is based on Psalm 36, and I find myself singing with a grateful heart of His steadfast love, which reaches to the skies.

PSALM 36:5-10

5Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
6Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O Lord.

7How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.

10Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart!

I love these verses, and the way the words form a prayer from my heart to His:

How precious is Your steadfast love. I am so thankful that I can take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

I love the Psalms and I love how these verses from Psalm 33 (below) talk about how “by the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their lights.”

Those beautiful starry skies we enjoyed in the country in Australia, far from city lights, were created by His breath.

The waves we watched on that vivid blue Indian Ocean at Johanna Beach were set in motion by the Living God.

PSALM 33:6-22 (NASB)

6By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,

And by the breath of His mouth all their lights.

7He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;

He puts the depths in storehouses.

8Let all the earth fear the LORD;

Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

9For He spoke, and it was done;

He commanded, and it stood firm.

10The LORD nullifies the plan of nations;

He frustrates the plans of peoples.

11The plan of the LORD stands forever,

The plans of His heart from generation to generation.

12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,

The people He has chosen for His own inheritance.

13The LORD looks from heaven;

He sees all the sons of mankind;

14From His dwelling place He looks out

On all the inhabitants of the earth,

15He who fashions the hearts of them all,

He who understands all their works.

16The king is not saved by a mighty army;

A warrior is not rescued by great strength.

17A horse is a false hope for victory;

Nor does it rescue anyone by its great strength.

18Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,

On those who wait for His faithfulness,

19To rescue their soul from death

And to keep them alive in famine.

20Our soul waits for the LORD;

He is our help and our shield.

21For our heart rejoices in Him,

Because we trust in His holy name.

22Let Your favor, LORD, be upon us,

Just as we have waited for You.

As I read those last few verses, I think about how our souls wait on the LORD.

As verse 20-22 go on to say, He is our help and our shield, and our hearts rejoice in Him.

Why?

Because we trust in His holy name.

Verse 22 is a prayer, “Let Your favor, LORD, be upon us, just as we have waited for You.”

But I confess that at times I haven’t waited on Him. Sometimes in the self-induced rush of life, I get distracted by the things I want or need to accomplish, and I don’t carve out time to wait on Him. And as a result, my walk with God suffers.

Honestly, I’m writing these meditative articles with God’s Word and pictures recently because this is a way for me to wait on Him. I love to meditate on His Word, and while I enjoy writing, I know what my soul needs most is to be refreshed in His truth each day.

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I noticed something as I traveled recently. I really loved not having access to internet or being accessible by phone some days. I want to reclaim my focus and deepen my quiet times with the LORD, and I find a couple of things especially challenging.

My husband and I both work from home. I don’t work full time because of my health, but since 2000 when my husband’s employer sent him home with his laptop, having him working out of our house each day has changed the dynamics at home.

Rather than feeling like a peaceful refuge, having him work remotely made our home feel more like a place of business. He works with IT and software for a healthcare organization, helping the staff to interface with the software effectively. I respect my husband’s work and I’m very grateful for his job. But somehow having space dedicated to his work rather than our family life changes how home feels. This is not a complaint by any means!

After all, I am thankful God gave me a husband ten years ago, and that we have the chance to create a life together as we seek to serve God in our professional and personal lives.

I meet with some of my coaching clients in my backyard office, and I devote time to writing my book and to writing this Substack as well. But for some reason, I’m finding it hard to keep the work boundaries as clear as I’d like with both of us working from home. (One of the reasons has more to do with digital distractions than it does our work from home status. So I’m being more intentional about when I turn on the wireless access, and I might invest in the Brick device that allows you to block apps on your phone whenever you’d like.)

I am very grateful for my writer’s cabin. My clients really love meeting in this welcoming space, and I feel very blessed that I can have space dedicated to write and to help people, and somewhere just to spend time with the LORD.

As Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:10-11, “We urge you, brothers and sisters…to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.”

I feel very blessed that neither of us have to fight traffic or commute. I have the freedom to do things to take care of my health, and to work part-time. We feel so thankful for God’s provision in these ways.

Can you relate to the challenge of leading a quiet life in this information saturated age? We weren’t created to be in tune with thousands of voices each day, to be aware of the news all around the globe, and to hear a multitude of opinions on every topic under the sun, were we?

I want to be aware enough of things going on in the world to be able to pray effectively. I do care about friends around the globe, people I have connections with and also those I don’t know. But my soul longs for stillness and time to focus on His Word, to pray, and to seek His face. I need His guidance on how to lead a quiet life, and more than ever we need His wisdom and His truth to bring stability to our days.

I’m so aware that things and digital devices don’t nurture our joy and peace. I know that time with my Creator plays the most vital role in this area.

Relationships meet our deeper needs for connection and love. We have time to focus on our relationship with God and others when we set aside the distractions and somehow find a better balance of work, personal time and also create space and time to nurture our spiritual lives.

So I return to His Word and my heart feels at rest. As I wait on Him, the words of my prayers form and I sense His Presence in beautiful, life-giving ways.

Dear Abba Father,

I have enjoyed the past few hours of intentionally spending time with You.

Your Word nourishes my weary soul. My time in the swimming pool gave me time to pray and rest in Your Presence, and taking care of my health feels so good.

You have given us life. Thank You for the gift of time. Help me use my time well, in ways that honor You. Thank You for the woman I talked with in the pool. She’s raising several granddaughters alone, and she had taken her three grandsons to the pool to swim. I pray that You will strengthen and encourage her, and give her wisdom. She acknowledged her need for Your guidance and help. I pray for those kids, too, that You will draw each of them to Yourself.

This world can wear people down. Unless we find refuge in You, we will find ourselves weary and depleted easily.

Please help me to seek Your face and trust in Your unfailing love.

For Your faithfulness reaches to the skies and Your love remains the stability of our hearts and minds. We need You, Father. And we have You!

In Jesus’ Holy Name,

Amen

Sometimes I love to listen to instrumental music while I write or do other things. Here’s a link to a YouTube of music and Scripture I enjoy.