Press Pause

“Take a break from the action; press pause on the music; take a moment to rest.”

Loren Thornburg

They call it the most wonderful time of the year, but I often find it to be the most  stressful time of the year with all the shopping and parties and traveling.  As I anticipate all the craze that is to come I am reminded that I need to pause so that I can enjoy it all.  The pause button is a convenient feature on movie and music players that allows for a temporary rest or stop.  I find I could use this in my life much more often than I do.  I don’t have to stop what I am doing altogether, but I can simply take a step away for a few moments to regain perspective and composure on the action and activity of my life.  When the emotions start swirling around me I can pause to rest, reflect, and see things more as they really are rather than get carried away by the craziness of it all.  If we could hit pause more often we might be able to prevent having “stop” pressed for us because we reached the point of exhaustion or burn out.  Take a moment to rest.  Press pause on your life.  It will still be there to press play again soon. 

“But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm.”

Proverbs 1:33 NLT

Something happens when we pause.  We start to hear; we hear our thoughts and the cries of our heart.  Now they are not always fun thoughts or thoughts we want to have, but it is in hearing them that we can address them.  It is in stopping that we can hear more than our thoughts, but what the Lord is saying about those thoughts.  When we pause long enough to listen to His voice something happens...peace.  Listening to God brings peace because His voice, His words are life.  It is in this peace that we will be untroubled by fear of harm or the chaos around us.  Now I don’t mean this as a formula to avoid harm, but rather that even in the midst of trouble when we stop to listen for His voice we can find peace even there.  You see it is not so much about being at peace because there wasn’t a fear of harm, but peace in the midst of it because His voice does that, it brings peace.  Now that is something worth stopping for.  So whatever surrounds you, whatever chaos is to come get good at stopping, at pausing to hear the voice that leads to peace.  

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