Do you ever stop? I mean just stop. Take a break in your routine, pause your plans for a moment, sit still and stop. Time is money as the saying goes and if your time is wasted sitting still then your money is consumed by the lack of accomplishment. Why is it so hard to stop in our culture? There is nothing wrong with a strong work ethic and a structured life full of activity, but what do you really have in the end?
Sooner or later you will have to stop. You with either do it on your own accord or you will reach a breaking point where your body shuts down. You get burned out. Even if you get joy from everything you do it can still happen. Wouldn’t you rather put it in park for a moment, letting your mind rest and your spirit refuel?
My band just finished a rehearsal not long ago. When we were done cleaning up, I stopped in the office to pick up some stuff I left there earlier. Instead of the grab-and-go I had planned in my mind, I sat down at my desk and waited. I wasn’t waiting for anything in particular, or anything at all really. It’s just that I had hit the ground running in the morning and this was the first time I had stopped all day. It was refreshing. I didn’t feel a need to accomplish anything. I didn’t even feel a need to get home right away. I just felt the need to stop and listen.
When looking through the life of Jesus, there are times when He made it a point to find solitude. Matthew 14:23 and Mark 1:35 are two places in particular where you see this and prayer was His focus in both instances. Prayer is one of those things that I am not disciplined in doing consistently, right along with reading The Word, but I am learning that prayer is not about tossing my needs and desires at God. Among other things, it is also about listening. As I listened tonight, God spoke. Not in an audible voice or twitter message. He spoke by giving me comfort. I know I am right where He wants me to be right now and I don’t have to wonder if I am in the right job or pursuing the right future. He is with me.
If you’ve been struggling with something for a while or have been stuck in uncertainty, stop. Just stop, be quiet, and listen. You might hear that still, small voice…
Stopping is counter-cultural (I believe). You say this, and I second it: our culture does not value inactivity (however, we do value vacations, more or less as a demonstration that we are able to take a vacation and go somewhere, somewhere great and beautiful, yet, is it just me, or do we usually return from our vacations just as tired or moreso than when we left). However, stopping, being still doesn’t necessitate inactivity. Neither does our culture value something that isn’t “value adding.” And, sitting, stopping, appears to not add any value. However, stopping, being still doesn’t necessitate an lack of value generating. Intentionality is key, right? If we sit and stop, with the intention of “doing,” however that “doing” might be positioning ourselves in Him to be present, to be quiet, to be alone, to be still, to be solitary, we rest assured that our ever powerful God, when He has us alone, will always speak something (audibly or not) into our hearts. He never misses an opportunity to grow us when we are obediently intentional to listen.
Thank you for your insight Dennis. I always appreciate the conversations we have, sharpening each other. I agree that intentionality does bring “value” to stopping, but sometimes a lack of intentions can prove even more valuable because God’s Word comes with His intentions rather than our own. You may have the intention of stopping to pray and journal, but God’s plan might be for you to just rest in His presence or talk to that friend who needs to hear from God through you. To bring it to a point, intentions are good because without them it would take a brink wall to make us stop. We just need to be willing to let our intentions change on account of God’s plan.
BTW… when you said last week that you value my insight at skin, it meant a lot to me. Thank you.
PS… I know what you’ll be doing in less than 48 hrs…