Awhile back, I spent a lovely week visiting friends in sunny Florida. Escaping from the cold, gray northeast weather to the warm, colorful southern landscape gave me a much needed emotional and spiritual lift.
Each morning I took a long walk, stopping and photographing the tranquil scenes around me.
One morning, I decided to be still by a small dock. I wanted to be open and receive whatever the Lord had for me. As I gazed at the water, I felt the Lord directing me to focus on a single leaf slowly drifting toward a piling. I decided to watch it travel. Although I didn’t have anywhere to go or anything I had to go do, I became impatient. It seemed as though the leaf would never arrive at the piling. In reality, it took less than a minute. Why was I so impatient with its progress? (See video here)
God showed me, once again, how I had become trapped in rushing and doing. I like to get things done. I like to achieve and accomplish tasks. It is difficult for me to slow down and just be. Through that single leaf, God showed me that slow and steady can still get a job done.
In the two weeks since I’ve arrived home, I am being more purposeful about slowing down and ceasing to strive. I often remind myself of the wisdom in the old saying, “Inch by inch, it’s a cinch.”
Twila Belk has a great book called, The Power to Be, a 40-day devotional in which she shares her struggles and wonderful insights about ceasing to strive.
How comfortable are you with taking time to be still? When you do, do you know more fully that He is God? Maybe you are like my Facebook friend Soli Deo Gloria, who recently posted, “I rarely rest because as I make my way to my ‘resting place,’…I always find something along the way that needs to be done.”
I challenge you in the next couple of weeks to take time to be still. Focus, even for a few minutes, on whatever the Lord wants to show you.
It’s so hard to take time to be still! And yet God has ordained periods of stillness in all of our lives, such as the Sabbath.
I imagine myself following Moses in the desert on the way to the Promised Land, spending the Sabbath glancing up at the sky every few minutes wondering if the sun is ever going to set, impatiently tapping my foot and making a mental to-do list for tomorrow, worrying about all the little necessities that aren’t getting done, rather than praising God for supplying my food and water and shelter and for providing a much-needed rest.
Thank you for reminding us of the importance of pausing.
(Adapted from my blog at https://thosewhoweep.blogspot.com/2019/01/gods-inefficiency.html.)
You are so welcome. Thanks for your great comments.