Slow It Down
I don’t know about you, but it seems to me like life can come at you fast. This is not necessarily a new development. The pace that most of us seem to embrace runs us down in a lot of ways. We get run down physically because of all of the movement and effort it takes to keep things rolling. We get run down mentally and emotionally as we try to juggle everything that comes our way. We get run down spiritually as we squeeze out the disciplines we need to connect to God on a regular basis. This “speed of life” is particularly crazy this time of year (I’m writing this the week of Christmas). I have literally just spent the entire day traveling a few hours to see family and friends while squeezing in several hours of shopping before I arrived at my destination (which was an event I needed to attend). I’m tired just typing about my day!
As I was driving today and thinking about everything that was on my plate, a verse of scripture came to mind. It’s a verse that comes to mind often, I’m just not sure I’m good at embracing it. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
It’s funny - I’ve known that verse for years, at least part of it. In lots of camp and church settings (and articles like this one :) I can remember being encouraged to embrace the first part of that verse, the “be still” part. I need to learn to jump out of the rat race of life and be still before the God of the universe. I need to slow it all down and see Him for who He is and take the time to breath in His grace and mercy.
But, the second part of the verse strikes me as well. I’ve never really heard it shared as an encouragement that goes along with the first part of the verse. God is reminding us that He will be exalted and lifted up among the nations and the earth, and He doesn’t need us, our effort, and our busyness to make that happen. Those of us who follow Jesus sometimes think that our activity is vital to ushering in the kingdom of God. We think that the output of our activity will somehow produce an abundant life that only God can provide. We get caught up in the “patterns of this world” that Paul talks about in Romans 1 and we move too fast for too long.
Take some time today to slow it down. Take some time to be still. Take some time to focus on Jesus, what He wants for you, and how you can step into the life that is available to you through your relationship with Him. And if you are a parent, lead your kids to do the same. Model for them what it means to put your trust in Him and give Him the space to truly work in your life.