It’s Saturday. The weekend. I’ve got no work due today. So that means it’s time to do my washing and hoovering and…
No. Thats not right. It is so easy to be busy. But sometimes we need to clear the busyness away. We were not designed to work non stop. Jesus says as much (Mark’s gospel chapter 2). He says the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. A day of rest is not a luxury, or it shouldn’t be. It’s a gift, yes, because we need it.
Psalm 23 says ‘The Lord’s my shepherd, I’ll not want: he makes me lie in green pastures” An interesting take, when a shepherd makes a sheep lie down, its not easy and gentle… (or so I’m told, never worked with sheep myself!)
Psalm 46 says ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ It’s in the stillness with no distractions that I can focus on God. I have that verse hanging on my wall (and yet still I seem to forget).
Just at the moment, I can’t do very much. I’ve been very good at filling my time with distractions and fitting God in around if I can. (In the last couple of weeks I have got better, but only with the help of friends). So it almost feels like I have been made to ‘lie down’ (not sure about the green pastures…) I am not able to fill all my time with distractions. I can’t run from God (which was part of the reason why I’m doing this challenge!)
I realised today I’m not great at just sitting. I’m not great at just being. I need to be doing. And when that gets taken away (if only temporarily) what am I left with?
Oh, right… God. Because what I can manage right now is prayer. I can manage listening to music. And I can manage to read the bible (other books are available, but that’s a good one!)
So I have been doing just that. Being still and remembering God is in control. He doesn’t need me. He was there before me, and he will be there after me. But right now, he doesn’t need me. But he wants me. And I don’t know how I can explain that feeling to someone who doesn’t believe, who doesn’t know God yet. But to those who do, you can understand. That extra voice in your head, the words spoken by a stranger that are what you need to hear, the actions of a friend, or just the feeling of being known, loved, seen and heard when I’m alone.
Give it a go. Take some time out to be still. See where God meets you. If it helps, there are a couple of songs below that I used today.
The Reason for my Hope Blog 