Meditate or Ruminate

The Bible tells us to Meditate on God and the Word of God. At the same time, it warns us not to Ruminate on things of the world.

Psalm 4:1 Answer me when I call, Oh God of my righteousness

Be gracious to me and hear my prayer

4:3 You must know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for himself

4:5 So tremble and do not miss the mark

Meditate in your heart upon your bed and be quietly peaceful before him

Godly believers have been set apart for God so rest in him and meditate on him.

Have you ever learned to meditate? Meditation means to ponder, consider, chew over and over in our heart, mind and spirit. Prayer can be done quickly and usually consists of telling God what we think He is missing. Meditation is focusing on God and Listening to what He wants us to think about and do.

The best way to do that is to find a place where we can rest, be quiet and relax for awhile. Let the peace of God descend upon on us and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal herself to us.

Then breathe deeply and allow the Spirit to bring passages of the Bible and godly events into our mind and heart. Think about God, his mercy, grace, goodness and provision. Praise him and sing songs of joy and blessings. Worship and praise allow us to rethink what God is saying to us.

This is Meditation.

Rumination is like meditation in that it happens when we focus our minds and hearts on anything but God. The focus is on our sins, guilt, works, disaster, fleshly desires and condemnation. It leads to spiritual exhaustion and emotional death. The Bible says, "I have set before you death or life so choose life." Why do we choose death so often when we Ruminate?

I was a world class RUMINATOR. I used Ruminations to motivate me to achieve more and defeat others. When I Ruminated I got mad.

First I was mad at me. Then I was mad at someone else. I was mad a lot. I was defensive, divisive, proud of my ability to "Speak the truth" but I discovered that I was bitter not better; judgmental not helpful; harmful not helpful.

I needed to change. It took a long time but I am getting better. I will tell more about how later.