“As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my love among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.” Song of Solomon 2:3

Sitting here watching it snow…and snow, I am sure many of you are also.

Sitting watching the weather, watching the news, watching the crazy people who are making the news.

Sitting pondering life, some in sorrow, some in despair, some in anxious hope, some in suffocating loneliness just wishing that someone was there.

Others may be sitting there stranded in their homes, waiting on the storm to subside, snowed in, bored to tears questioning their lives.

Really awesome old sayings can apply to many of these, “Sit down and make yourself comfortable”, as many a child, including myself heard, “Please sit down and behave yourself.”

My favorite for the weary, “Sit down and take a load off.”

Sometimes we just find it hard to sit down.

Spiritually we often wrestle with frantically pacing, our minds overloaded with whys, and what-ifs, the enemy using these things to keep us mentally exhausted as we try to outrun problems and issues when in reality the only true solution will be found when we finally just sit down.

Scripture after scripture confirms this and not only the need to sometimes sit it out, but also the different reasons for doing so.

Time of Restoration: ” Isaiah 52:2 ” Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.”

Time of seriousness: Jeremiah 36:15: “And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.”

Mark 14:32: ” And they came to a place which is called Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I pray.”

Time of discipleship: ” Luke 10:39: “And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.”

Acts 8:31: ” And he said, How can I except (unless) some man should guide me? And he desired Phillip that (asked if he would) come up and sit with him.”

Sitting in the wrong place: Psalms 127:2: ” It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.”

Sitting in the blessed place: Luke 20:42,43: ” And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.”

Ephesians 2:6: “And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

That gives us quite an idea, in all areas of life, sitting is often a requirement.

We sit for good; we sit for bad, and we often forget that we must sit in order to be spiritually fed.

We go through seasons in which we have been sat down by events, circumstance, and often while we sit there we squirm and wrestle, never allowing ourselves to find any comfort that may be hidden in whatever state that we find ourselves in.

And as in our verse above, in anguish and dread we rise early and in sorrow and foreboding we refuse sleep, and we do these things in absolute futility, it is useless as the Lord says, he gives us rest.

When we struggle and resist trying so hard to free ourselves, we completely miss the point that God wants us to understand and while we are screaming that we do not want to be there, in that chair that life has sat us in, we can completely miss the blessing that God already has waiting at the end of that season.

It is in the sitting, the patient waiting, that trust is developed and proven.

It is in those times and those places that God reveals himself, his provision, his care, and the truth in that he will always be there.

That is the fruit that will only be found under him and under his shadow and that shadow represents absolute trust in him.

If we never allow ourselves to rest in him and just seek his presence in good times as well as bad, we will never even know what that fruit may have been much less ever receive it.

So think about it today, bored and snowed in, take that time to just seek him deeper and soak in his presence and if struggles, stop squirming, allow him to make that seat easier to bear and allow him to take that load off in the acceptance that we can never unburdened ourselves.

Psalms 91:1-4: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and thy buckler.”

In under to be under we must first sit down!

Thank you for reading and sharing a little of your day with me!

Peace & love till next time!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2026/ Rev. N. Brown Johnson