The Pace of Life

 

One of the huge pressures of life in today's world is "so much to do, so little time".  Each of us is given 24 hours and how we use it is largely up to us.  Sometimes it doesn't feel like we are in control though, as there are so many things we 'ought', or need to do.

When I was a young mum..... about a hundred years ago....... I had posted behind the toilet door a pretty poster with the words of a poem that I have since found out, (in the days of Google), were written by one Wilfred Arlon Peterson.  Here are the first few lines.

Slow me down, Lord

Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.

Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.

Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams

that live in my memory.  Help me to know the magical restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art of taking minute vacations - of slowing down to look at a flower,

to chat with a friend, 

to pat a dog, 

to read a few lines from a good book.......

I was blessed to be a full-time mum while my children were growing up, but I obviously still felt the pressure of time.  Though it must have been quite unlike the pressures today, my heart was crying out for the Lord to slow me down.  It is only now, all those years later, that I am learning (or yielding) to trust God in this.  You will often hear people who have retired say, "I don't know how I found time to work."  Retirement can also be busy and demanding, depending on how much we put into our calendar, or allow others to do so.

Something I have long struggled with is a feeling of guilt about needing to do this or that, to attend this meeting or that, or help this one or that.  I have always enjoyed offering hospitality to people but it often became a nightmare for poor Col as I became stressed about 'getting everything done right'.  Oh dear!  But that is what happens, isn't it?  The people around us pay a price for the pressure we put upon ourselves.

In very recent years I have begun to love, love, love The Message version of Matthew 11:28-30, and maybe it will grab you too.  Jesus says....

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?  Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

If you feel it's impossible to 'come to Jesus and get away with him', can I encourage you to ask God how to do that.  Allow him to somehow rearrange your programme so that you can learn the unforced rhythms of grace from him.  In his 3 short years of ministry, Jesus always seemed to be surrounded by the demands of people but he never seemed in a hurry.  He 'stopped for the one' as Heidi Baker says.  He also often went aside, alone, to talk to his Father in heaven.

All these years later I am still growing and learning, it never stops, but the peace I am finding in trying to walk with Jesus in these unforced rhythms of grace is something I long for you to find too.  The place where we find peace and joy, strength and patience and all those wonderful fruits of the Spirit, that hopefully bring joy and glory to God.

Prayer:  Jesus, help me to come away with you, leave my burdens with you, to ask your wisdom and your help for each day.  Help me to walk in your unforced rhythms of grace.  Amen

Why Suffering?

                                                 Photo by Barry Doig

 

Many of us struggle to make sense of suffering, our own or others. But it takes such varied and complex forms that it has to be left to God. Often though we feel the need to try to find reasons but, as in the case of Job, there seems to be none.  His self-righteous friends thought that it MUST be that he had sinned against God, but  God put them right about that – in the end! 

Be assured that, in my musings today, I will not be trying to put your struggles to rest forever, for that is not possible.  Over the centuries many others have already tried to understand the reasons for suffering, with varying results.  These are just observations that came out of my Bible reading this morning. The story went like this……

 

Hezekiah became king at age 25 and he reigned in Judah for 29 years from about 715 BC.  Unlike his father, King Ahaz who had “encouraged the people to sin, and had been utterly unfaithful to the Lord” (2 Chronicles 28:19), Hezekiah had restored worship and faithfully followed the Lord. In spite of this 14 years into his reign Hezekiah became sick, and the prophet Isaiah came with a message from God that this sickness would cause him to die.

 

I could say that Hezekiah ‘didn’t take this lying down’, but he did, for he was laying on his sickbed.  The Bible says that he turned his face to the wall and started talking to God. “Remember, O LORD, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.” Then he broke down and wept bitterly. (2 Kings 20:1-11).  In a nutshell, God heard his prayer instantly, because it says that before Isaiah had left the middle court, God gave him a message for Hezekiah - that he would live another 15 years. 

 

The account of this in 2 Kings stops there, but when Isaiah the prophet wrote about it, he included a prayer that Hezekiah wrote after his healing.  It’s worth a read Isaiah 38:9-20. In verse 17 Hezekiah seems to have reached his own conclusion about his suffering.  He says, ​“Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but you have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption….” I wonder if he had started to move away from God and in His kindness God stopped him in his tracks and turned his eyes back to his Maker?  Hezekiah seemed to think so.

 

For Christians who suffer I would dare to say that it is never wasted when we faithfully follow God. Some of the most beautiful poems and hymns have been written as a result of continued trust in the face of suffering.  Joni Eareckson Tada is one of my heroes of faith.  She became a quadriplegic as a result of a diving accident when she was only 18.  She just wanted to die, but she found a reason to live and to glorify God in her life.  Today in her 70s she continues to have an amazing ministry which blesses many.  Check this link out. https://www.epm.org/blog/2022/Sep/12/joni-eareckson-tada-resolve

 

Are you suffering in some way today?  Have you turned to God to make sense of it?  If you do that, I pray that he will help you to see his great love and purpose in the midst of it, and enable you to go on and allow him to use it for good.  Romans 8:28 assures believers of this…..”For we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.”  The ways that God can use suffering for good are too many to number!

 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, in my struggles and suffering help me to trust that you are using them for your greater purposes. Please be glorified in my life so that I may honour your name.  Amen