“Blessed are all they who keep my ways. Heed instruction and be wise, do not neglect it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorpost. For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.”
Proverbs 8:32-34
Hello Friend,
I want to bring you a word today that I believe is for this very season. It is a word for those of us who have been pushing hard, moving fast, and running on empty. It is an invitation to step onto a less-traveled path.
It is time for some Selah.
What Is Selah?
For those of you who read the Psalms, you have likely noticed that little word tucked into the margins: Selah. It is not an accident. It is not a misprint. It is an instruction.
Selah means to pause.
Before you move on to the next Psalm, you pause. Before you rush into the next activity, you push the pause button. Before you press forward in your own strength, you stop to get refueled. Because here is the truth: you can operate in giftedness out of your own soul strength for a season, but eventually, you will run dry.
When you operate out of a place of rest, however, when you have completed your mission, you still have something left.
You are not oil-less. You are not empty. We all need to press the Selah button.
Psalm 23 tells us that the Lord leads us beside the quiet stream. He makes us lie down in green pastures. He restores our soul. That is not weakness. That is wisdom. It is the rhythm of rest that God Himself built into the life of His people.
Listening, Watching, Waiting
Our theme scripture today comes from Proverbs 8:32-34:
“Blessed are all they who keep my ways. Heed instruction and be wise, do not neglect it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorpost. For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.”
Notice the three verbs. They are not past tense— He who listened, he who waited. They are ongoing. He who listens and keeps on listening. He who watches and keeps on watching. He who waits and keeps on waiting. This is not a one-time posture. It is a lifestyle.
And with this lifestyle come three remarkable promises. One, you will be supernaturally blessed. Two, you will find life. Three, you will obtain favor from the Lord.
We are often only looking for a solution. But God is inviting us to look for Him. And when we find Him, He gives us the answer, along with an extra measure of favor we never anticipated.
Young Joshua and the Path Less Traveled
One of the most powerful examples of this lifestyle in all of Scripture is found in the life of young Joshua. Exodus 33:8-11 gives us a remarkable picture:
“It came about that whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent. Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses… His servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.”
Did you catch that? When Moses disappeared behind the veil, the masses went back to their tents and their normal activities. They came for the big moments, the bells and the whistles, but they did not have the patience for the passive place of listening, waiting, and watching.
But Joshua chose another way. He stayed. He waited until Moses emerged. He was the first to see the glow on his master’s face. He was the first to hear the report of what had happened beyond the veil. And it was in that place of quiet, expectantly waiting that Joshua was being trained to become the leader who would bring a generation into the fulfillment of God’s promises.
Joshua chose the path less traveled. And it changed everything.
The Incubation Bed of Revelation
Years ago the voice of the Holy Spirit came to me with a phrase I have never forgotten: The incubation bed of revelation is quietness.
But it is not just quietness. It is quietness combined with expectation. When you settle yourself down before the Lord, not passively, but with an eager anticipation that He is about to move, about to speak, about to show Himself that is the incubation bed where revelation is born.
The Holy Spirit is searching eagerly for those on whose quiet hearts He can write the revelatory words of God. Friend, will you be one of those hearts?
Push the Selah Button
Wherever you are today, whatever pace you have been running at: I want to invite you to pause. Set the snow globe down and let things settle. Stop talking long enough to listen. Stop rushing long enough to watch. Stop striving long enough to wait.
He who finds Me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.
Let’s go together on the less-traveled way of listening, watching, and waiting. I believe it will revolutionize your life.
For resources to go deeper, I encourage you to pick up my book Praying with God’s Heart: The Power and Purpose of Prophetic Intercession, along with the companion study guide and curriculum kit available at GodEncounters.com. I am also drawing from The Lifestyle of a Watchman, which includes a powerful 21-day journey — and day 11, Waiting in Quietness, speaks directly to everything we have explored today.
God bless you!
James W. Goll
