There is a heap of active meaning between those two four-letter words. Most of the time, I find it difficult to do nothing. Where has that practice come from? For example, I don’t just sit and watch television with my hubby in the evenings. I always have something in my hands…a word search or crossword puzzle, a book or manuscript pages, or something to eat (shame on me).
Psalm 46:10 (NIV) advises us to ~~ “Be still, and know that I am God.” ~~
Why can’t I just relax? What am I striving to achieve? And I ask myself, where did this habit evolve? When keeping up with young children? While working in a bustling office? The middle-age fact that way more than half my life was gone and there was still so much I wanted to accomplish?
Today’s culture feeds a world of multi-tasking. We see it everywhere, no matter the age, with devices. And it struck me with a shatter one day, a few years ago now, but still applicable.
I had washed 11 panes of antique striated green stained glass (my husband broke one in two pieces taking it out of the frame), and laid them on the driveway to dry. I went inside for a tape measure and my camera. The phone rang, and I answered. But instead of giving my daughter the attention she deserved, I kept on doing what I was doing. I took the phone outside. I didn’t have a problem measuring the glass. But when I opened my camera, the phone slipped.
Kerplunk … tinkling.
“What was that?” Chantell asked.
“I dropped the phone on a piece of glass.” That woke me up to what I was doing. And it sure wasn’t listening to her.
Multi-tasking. I believe it is ingrained. And these days I do it most of my waking hours, unless I’m in the zone of seeing life through one of my characters, or first thing in the morning when I’m awake but my mind is sleep walking.
Slow me down, Lord!
I spend my waking-up moments with Him, but I’m really not awake that first part of my day. I try to give Him my day and ask that we get done what He wants me to do, my assignment.
And then I get busy, doing two or three things at once.
The NASB version says, “Cease striving,” at the beginning of Psalm 46:10. “…and know that I am God.”
I do know He’s God, and I better pay attention when He calls. I’m inclined to believe the writer’s mind is always on the alert for creativity. But I need to take time to listen attentively, to concentrate on one thing at a time. How can I hear otherwise?
Each day, for a few moments, I try to be busy at rest. Who knows what will sink in to an open heart and unoccupied mind?
~~ “Rest in the Lord … fret not yourself.” ~~ Psalm 37:7.
Psalm 46:10 (NIV) advises us to ~~ “Be still, and know that I am God.” ~~
Why can’t I just relax? What am I striving to achieve? And I ask myself, where did this habit evolve? When keeping up with young children? While working in a bustling office? The middle-age fact that way more than half my life was gone and there was still so much I wanted to accomplish?
Today’s culture feeds a world of multi-tasking. We see it everywhere, no matter the age, with devices. And it struck me with a shatter one day, a few years ago now, but still applicable.
I had washed 11 panes of antique striated green stained glass (my husband broke one in two pieces taking it out of the frame), and laid them on the driveway to dry. I went inside for a tape measure and my camera. The phone rang, and I answered. But instead of giving my daughter the attention she deserved, I kept on doing what I was doing. I took the phone outside. I didn’t have a problem measuring the glass. But when I opened my camera, the phone slipped.
Kerplunk … tinkling.
“What was that?” Chantell asked.
“I dropped the phone on a piece of glass.” That woke me up to what I was doing. And it sure wasn’t listening to her.
Multi-tasking. I believe it is ingrained. And these days I do it most of my waking hours, unless I’m in the zone of seeing life through one of my characters, or first thing in the morning when I’m awake but my mind is sleep walking.
Slow me down, Lord!
I spend my waking-up moments with Him, but I’m really not awake that first part of my day. I try to give Him my day and ask that we get done what He wants me to do, my assignment.
And then I get busy, doing two or three things at once.
The NASB version says, “Cease striving,” at the beginning of Psalm 46:10. “…and know that I am God.”
I do know He’s God, and I better pay attention when He calls. I’m inclined to believe the writer’s mind is always on the alert for creativity. But I need to take time to listen attentively, to concentrate on one thing at a time. How can I hear otherwise?
Each day, for a few moments, I try to be busy at rest. Who knows what will sink in to an open heart and unoccupied mind?
~~ “Rest in the Lord … fret not yourself.” ~~ Psalm 37:7.
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