Bible Gateway interviewed Kristen Kill (@kristenkill) about her book, Finding Selah: The Simple Practice of Peace When You Need It Most (Zondervan, 2018).
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Grieving as the World Rejoices by Kristen Kill]
What is selah?
Kristen Kill: Well, literally, the word selah that we see in the Bible means pause or interlude. It appears 71 times in the Psalms as an instruction in the musical liturgy—calling the musicians and the readers to silence or rest, just like we might see in a written piece of music today.
When I was reading the Psalms during a difficult season of my own life, I found this word to be the natural place where I would take a deep breath; where I would ponder what I’d read, before diving into the next stanza. It became a springboard idea for me in my own life, realizing how very vital it was for me to rest and to pause in the midst of the laments and cries of my own heart that were very much like the ones we read in the Psalms. I think too, the more we examine the true rest of God, and his heart for his people in offering his presence to us, we see the reality of Christ cutting right into the midst of our own circumstances and seasons to be our breath and our pause—just like a selah.
Why did you turn to reading the Psalms when you were exhausted and depressed?
Kristen Kill: I was so skilled at posturing and posing that things were okay with others and even with God but on the inside I felt so hollow and so numb. I’ve always loved literature and reading poetry always stirred my heart, and when I considered that the Bible had its own poetry too, I began to dive in hoping to just feel something. What I found was that the writers of the Psalms were often in agony—often discouraged—but they weren’t hiding away like I was. They were unconcerned with appearing tidy before God and they poured out all those anxieties to him with such utter vulnerability. I was at awe at the depth of emotion they shared, the struggles as well as the joy. And as I prayed through the Psalms more and more, I found the curve of my own heart there, a form right in Scripture that God had given for everything we’re likely to encounter in the realm of human emotion. These verses guide us really, in understanding our own hearts and in giving us a pattern for how to bring them before the Lord.
How did praying the Psalms change your understanding of what rest means?
Kristen Kill: I think I’d always considered rest to be something that came at the end of a thing: a long work week, a job well done, a vacation or holiday at the appointed time. I’d never considered it to be my starting place, or that God would meet me with rest that nourished my heart and soul right in the middle of struggle or circumstance. My expectation was always that he would remove the object of difficulty. What I found was that my own struggles remained, but the change was in the orientation of my heart—in my focus on Christ with me. When we’re in Christ, his rest, his peace, and his presence are ours too, so rest and composure of our hearts—regardless of circumstance—becomes our new natural state of being through the Holy Spirit.
What do you describe as a false rest and how does it differ from a true rest?
Kristen Kill: I think there are a few different kinds of rest. There’s a point where our physical bodies are so very tired and we need to stop and heal, or sleep, or just take a nap (oh, how I love to nap when I can get one!). And there are other ways that we can take time to recreate or rest that are as varied as our personalities; be it through a quiet prayer, nature walk, or knitting, or gardening.
But our culture is offering up all kinds of false rest too; idle pursuits that leave us wanting. I think social media scrolling is probably one of the easiest to identify. You think it’ll be a way to zone out and relax but before you know it, 30 minutes have gone by and often that time leaves your body and mind more restless than you were to begin with.
I think that true rest leaves a mark upon us. It fills up our souls in some way because, in it, we encounter and enjoy the presence of God. If what you’re doing to rest overflows to bless those around you, if you want to share it, or if you’re changed by it to such a degree that your heart is bolstered as a bearer of light to others, then I think you’re off to a pretty good start!
What is a selah interlude?
Kristen Kill: To take on a musical idea again, an interlude is an instrumental diversion that happens between the chorus or harmony before the notes return to their main parts; or in my analogy, before the regular rhythms of our lives carry on.
I think of selah interludes as those feasting moments of our lives (those pauses where we’re not merely silent and hushed) like in a rest, but where we experience beauty or art or a delicious meal. Those things may at first appear to be very hedonistic, but I believe they’re the goodness of God and the fingerprints of Heaven that woo us to his heart.
When we recognize that the longing and ache that we have for beauty—that we see shadows of in a starry night or swirling snow or ivy crawling among grey buildings—is a longing that can only be met in the beauty of Christ, I think our imagination for God expands and we begin to be transformed by his delight in very practical ways throughout our days.
How should a person make room for the small things in life that give selah?
Kristen Kill: In my own life, when I first determined to pause throughout my day and take a deep breath or go for a walk or pour a cup of black tea into my porcelain cup, I had to set a timer! I literally did not know how to stop all I was doing without an alarm going off to tell me when.
I think that defining a few 15-minute chunks of your day is a great place to start. You don’t have to have an hour or two a day to change, but just ten or 15 minutes to actively engage your heart with the heart of God: to invest yourself in Scripture, commit to prayer, or just to intentionally enjoy the beauty and rest that he offers; the delight he’s pouring out and makes abundantly available to you right now.
What happens when selah and sorrow meet?
Kristen Kill: You know, one thing I realized as I began to study the idea of rest in the Bible is that rest and provision are indelibly linked. We can rest because we know that God is sovereign. We can rest because he holds all things together. We can rest because he loves us and provides for us—with his very self.
I know that when I was experiencing grief, my stance was one of grasping: for control, for comfort, and for everything I thought would fill me up, and everything I was so afraid to lose. I think that when we embrace Jesus as our rest, and therefore—for this analogy—as our selah, it changes how we meet sorrow and pain. We can become people who hold so tightly to Christ that we can finally be full; we can trust and live without fear that goodness is going to run out; and we can release all we cling to into his hands.
Name a Psalm that particularly met your need in your desperation and explain how it helped to heal you.
Kristen Kill: Psalm 91 was powerful for me to read and take in, because it describes the way that God responds to us; the way he cares for us. “We will abide in his shelter, he will cover us with feathers, under his wings we will find refuge.” In these verses I realized that my whole heart, my whole life, would be covered and protected by God. Not just the tidy parts, but all of me. He saw me as vulnerable and desired to protect me. What a grace and a hope!
What action do you want to inspire readers of this book to take?
Kristen Kill: I think most of us can relate with the idea that we need rest and pause in our lives. But I hope that if readers pick up this book because they want more of that, they’ll come away realizing that their longing for rest is truly a longing for more of Jesus. It can take a fair bit of introspection to get at the root of what’s truly happening beneath the surface of what we think we need and want. But I hope readers are inspired to do that work. I think its worth it. And I think God is absolutely delighted to meet us in that pursuit.
What is a favorite Bible passage of yours and why?
Kristen Kill: Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
I couldn’t believe it when I read for the first time that God was singing over me. Like I sang over my babies, God is singing a song of love over us. It’s the melody of heaven, and the song of our lives. These pauses—these selahs—are how we learn to listen and tune our ear to him. I don’t want to miss that glorious music. I don’t want to miss his delight.
What are your thoughts about Bible Gateway and the Bible Gateway App?
Kristen Kill: I love using Bible Gateway on my computer and my phone as a way to meditate on God’s word. It’s a great place to begin a quiet time! Read the daily verse, and write it in your journal. I like to have just one verse to share with my children at breakfast or at dinner, and when we use the app as a family, they’ve often already read it on their own, and come ready with questions or ideas. Its wonderful to all be reading the same thing each day!
Bio: Kristen Kill is a woman transformed by the delight of God. A contributing editor at The Better Mom, and co-host of At Home, a popular podcast with Sally Clarkson, Kristen is passionate about encouraging women who feel stretched thin with the truth that, even in the tension, God is singing over them with love. After spending the last seven years in the hustle of New York City, Kristen and her husband, Josh, are learning to go slow as they raise their five kids in the Pacific Northwest. Her days are filled with homeschooling, walking her slightly anxious hound dog, and putting off the cleaning for one more day. Find Kristen writing at kristenkill.com and follow her on Instagram @kristenkill.
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