Streams in the Desert

While most of my blog entries are updates on Eli, there is something else that I want to blog about today.  I have found a new devotional book that I absolutely love.  It is called Streams in the Desert.  This devotional was originally written by a woman named L.B. Cowman in 1925.  She and her husband were missionaries to China and Japan from 1901 to 1917.  Her husband's health took a turn for the worse and the couple returned to the US, where she cared for him until his death six years later.  Out of her experiences and her heartbreak came this devotional.  It has been edited and revised by Jim Reimann, who was also the editor of the updated edition of My Utmost for His Highest.  Let me just say that I love this book.  I have not read it every day, but the days that I have are all incredible.  I will share one from January 22nd that seems to speak directly to me where I am at this moment.  I pray that it will encourage you as much as it does me.  I also highly, highly recommend this devotional for everyone...go get one today! :)

January 22
"He withdrew...to a solitary place." Matthew 14:16

There is no music during a musical rest, but the rest is part of the making of the music.  In the melody of our life, the music is separated here and there by rests.  During those rests, we foolishly believe we have come to the end of the song.  God sends us times of forced leisure by allowing sickness, disappointed plans, and frustrated efforts.  He brings a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives, and we lament that our voices must be silent.  We grieve that our part is missing in the music that continually rises to the ear of our Creator.  Yet how does a musician read the rest?  He counts the break with unwavering precision and plays his next note with confidence, as if no pause were ever there. 
God does not write the music of our lives without a plan.  Our part is to learn the tune and not be discouraged during the rests.  They are not to be slurred over or omitted, nor used to destroy the melody or to change the key.  If we will only look up, God Himself will count the time for us.  With our eyes on Him, our next note will be full and clear.  If we sorrowfully say to ourselves, "There is no music in a rest," let us not forget that the rest is part of the making of the music.  The process is often slow and painful in this life, yet how patiently God works to teach us!  And how long He waits for us to learn the lesson!


Wow, incredible.  I find this so so encouraging as I am in a rest point in my life.  Praise be to God, this is all a part of the plan, all part of the music.  Anyway, I just loved this and wanted to share.  Hope that you all have a wonderful day and that your greatest objective today wouldn't be to get all of your tasks done or all of the items on your list crossed off, but to have intimate fellowship with the God who loved you, who created you, who composes the symphony of your life.  What a good and awesome God He is.  I am so thankful to know Him!