Necessary Pause

When He opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. (Revelation 8:1)

I had a wonderful stay at home day the other day.
I have been blessed to be a stay at home Mom, but this was a different kind of day.
This was the kind of day when you have nothing planned.

The kind of day when the playlist of your favorite songs fills the house.
The kind of day when you have lunch at 2:00 as you read a good book.
The kind of day when you begin something…only to walk away, play the piano for a while, and then come back to the task…renewed.

The kind of day when a walk to the mailbox is a treasure trove of early spring discoveries…new buds on the hydrangeas…brilliant yellow forsythia on the other side of the stone wall.

…a celebration of the simple.

I began to think about how hectic our lives can be.
How much of our busyness is self-imposed and how much of it is necessary?

I glance at the daily planner on my desk and see prayer requests, family activities, appointments, lunch scheduled with friends, to do lists…

I was drawn to the stillness of the white spaces. All the other squares screamed with scribbled notations, some even climbing up into the margins at times.

But oh, those clean white spaces.
My necessary pauses.

I prayed for more of them.

I remember lying on the grass as a small girl, seeing faces in the clouds and I cherished the contentment that memory brought to mind.

We must learn again the art of stillness.

As I gaze at my white spaces I consider the importance of pausing.
…the climax of a musical rest as the orchestra swells then waits for the final note to sound.
…the pain cry of a young child, with the open mouth stillness before the loud wail.
…the loud boom we hear seconds after the burst of fireworks in the summer sky.

The frenetic pace we keep prevents us from being still.

Busyness distracts us from God.
Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)
We must learn to be still.
We must build into our day those necessary pauses that will replenish our spirit.
Pauses that will allow us the quiet to hear God’s voice.

Elijah looked for the Lord in the powerful wind, in the earthquake, and then in the fire, but found Him in the gentle whisper (1 Kings 19: 11-13) and so will we. Let us turn down the volume of our lives and slow our pace enough to listen to each other, but most vitally, to God. He is speaking above the clamor of our lives, above the din of our distractions.

Nothing is more important than listening to Him.

In quietness and trust is your strength. (Isaiah 30:15)

 

2 responses to “Necessary Pause”

1. A lovely reminder Gina…thank you…

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   • Maybe some time around my kitchen table…having tea…and stillness…is long overdue !!

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