A Necessary Pause

Anyone out there also feeling like the pace is bordering on unsustainable? We seem to be in a season where no sooner have we sorted one thing or communicated about another, or completed a job, then the next one is there demanding attention.

I was, recently, watching a video clip of loved ones frolicking at the seaside. I began to get a little anxious as I watched the waves rolling in, one after another, giving them hardly a moment to right themselves before the next one hit. Sometimes life is like that too, we get swept away, knocked off our feet or even dumped, and suddenly we aren’t having as much fun as we thought we would be.

This morning, the lady leading the worship at our church called for a pause right at the point when we would have usually thrown ourselves into the singing. It’s so easy just to do the next thing, especially if we are task oriented. To brake and put the car into park seems an odd thing to do for people with things to do and places to go!

I am doing an online course called Conversations on Relational Education and after the weekly zoom meeting the facilitator has been calling for a moment of stillness and reflection like a stop sign at an intersection.

Permission to be still. A chance to breathe deep. A moment in time to gather oneself and remember the most important things.

In a very full season, these two calls to pause have been a golden discovery to my soul.

The brilliant thing about it all is that we don’t have to wait for someone to say we are allowed to stop. We can push the pause button at any point. And contrary to what we might think, it won’t even, necessarily, cause a delay to our trip. It might even speed things up.

It’s a miracle moment of refreshing, an opportunity for accountability, the ability to focus, pay attention and process all that is going on in our hearts. It’s a quiet space for revival to ignite the dry kindling of all our scurrying.

The gift is right here for the taking. Perhaps, even now, you’d like to stop, close your eyes, breathe, listen and be thankful. Jesus, Himself, slept on the boat whilst a storm raged on.

Have a beautiful week!