Unplanned Pause

This week, I went under the knife at the dermatology office. The surgery was to take care of some skin cancer on my nose, which had been beaten up by the sun in my younger years. I wasn’t ready for the long-drawn-out healing required for this surgery. I was thinking a few days and I’d be back in the saddle. My real saddle. Not. So. Quickly.

Even though most of us relish rest when it comes to being told “Be still” we don’t quite like it. I was shut down from all my favorite activities: riding my horse, swimming, hiking, cycling, etc. After 24 hours, I was nearly going crazy. Yep, that’s me.

Yet, God had different plans. As Paul Tautges in the book Knowing God’s Peace writes “Rest is the polar opposite of anxiety. Our anxious hearts long for rest but can’t seem to find it. And the rest that we need is even deeper than the rest that we typically seek.” Maybe God is using this downtime to remind me once again to come and be present with Him. A deeper rest than just sitting around.

As much as I love spending time with God, I can get antsy. I’m a squirmer and want to get busy. Sitting in his presence requires me to focus on God. I get consumed by the voices that call out to my attention. Read me. Pay attention to me. Shop here. Shop there. Get the sale. Hike here. Hike there. Do this. Do that.

I remember a quote from Henri J. M. Nouwen who wrote about voices: “Many voices ask for our attention. There is a voice that says, ‘Prove that you are a good person.’ Another voice says, ‘You’d better be ashamed of yourself.’ There also is a voice that says, ‘Nobody really cares about you,’ and one that says, ‘Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful.’ But underneath all these often very noisy voices is a still, small voice that says, ‘You are my Beloved, my favor rests on you.’ That’s the voice we need most of all to hear. To hear that voice, however, requires special effort; it requires solitude, silence, and a strong determination to listen. That’s what prayer is. It is listening to the voice that calls us ‘my Beloved.’”

To be honest, I just want to move on with my life and get done with this unplanned pause. It’s hard to stay focused and listen to that voice that calls me ‘my Beloved.’ But, when I look long and hard at this quote, I admit I do want to hear that still small voice. I long to know God in a deeper way and I recognize that requires solitude, silence, and enjoying Him in the unplanned pauses of life.

Instead of being crabby about our unplanned pauses, maybe it’s an opportunity to spend time with God. Did you know that God’s priority is always to be with You, at the very center of your life? Why not make God your priority as well?

Take a listen to this song that speaks of just being in God’s presence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhoEktYO5w8

“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17


Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.

Heating Up!

Ben and I are all for a good adventure. We had a fantastic vacation in Durango these past few weeks and enjoyed some great hikes in the mountains. Unfortunately, things heated up on the way home. Just outside Albuquerque, New Mexico, the air conditioner in our truck decided to take a break. The problem was this air conditioner’s break lasted the rest of the trip. It was totally broken.

In a land where there are no water streams and desert-like conditions, even the cacti struggle to survive. And there we were, right in the middle of all it. We opened each window and off we went toward Lubbock, where we would stay. Ben rigged up our small cooling humidifier that produced a bit of a breeze for our doggie in the back seat. We called the emergency vet to make sure we were doing all we could to take care of her. The miles seemed to tick by slowly as the sweat mounted.

Seems like many of us took vacations years ago with not a bit of air conditioning, right? How did we do it? Well, I wasn't in Texas! There certainly wasn’t much talking in the truck as we couldn’t hear each other! So I decided to turn on our Saturday church service and see if I could hear it. 

About the only thing I heard in the service was Pastor Ed Newton talking about the Famous Double-Double at In-and-Out Burger and the Bible verse printed on the wrapper. He was speaking in the book of Nahum and the verse on the wrapper was in Nahum 1:7 “The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.”  Pastor Ed gave a target statement that really hit me: “How you think God views you, will define the way you view yourself and the situations that you face.”

How did I view God in times like these? This situation was a minor irritation, but still, not what we planned for. Did I really trust that God would take care of us throughout this trip? Even though I struggled with stress, I knew that God would ultimately care for us.

We often struggle in our challenging circumstances because we don’t believe who God says He is. We don’t read the Bible and seek to know Him. As a result, when we’re up against our own personal struggle, we find ourselves relying on ourselves, not God. We find ourselves questioning God, not trusting Him.

Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.” I have a feeling that many fail to taste and see that the LORD really IS good. By the time you get on in life, there are a ton of things most of us have gone through, some great things and some not so great. Here’s the honest-to-goodness truth…. No matter what bad thing happens, God is still good. God is still God. And He will see you through.

One last thing…. I did catch one of the worship songs on that Saturday night service with our windows-open-hot-truck drive to Lubbock. It was this song. It helped me shed a few tears and give me a different perspective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtwIT8JjddM

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.

Patience NOW!

We all need a bit of patience, and of course, we need it RIGHT NOW. I’ve been musing a bit on the importance of patience these days.

Patience to handle the heat, day after day.
Patience as we serve people, no matter how they act.
Patience while on vacation and all that entails.
Patience with a problem at work.
Patience with a challenging family member.

I get it, no one is perfect. But, bottom line, we need to be able to grow in patience to handle the challenging times we live in.

While on vacation, I’ve been thinking a lot about patience. I tend to like to go a bit above the speed limit and find myself irritated when I’m behind a slow driver. My impatience bubbles to the surface and out goes the patience. Yet, when I look at myself closely, it’s pride that’s at the heart of my impatience.

1 Timothy 1:16 says “But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worse sinners.” I must remember that God has had great patience with me my entire life. Would it not be important for me to show patience, even to those who genuinely try my patience?

Ecclesiastes 7:8 says “Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride.” Solomon in this verse compares patience and hasty anger. The Bible Tools Commentary writes: “He describes anger ready to burst out at even slight irritations because a person’s pride convinces him that even slight irritations simply should not happen to such a wonderful person as he is. He explodes because of his impatience.” (www.bibletools.org,  Ecclesiastes 7:8-10) I’m convinced that pride and impatience go hand in hand. May it be that when pride seeps into our lives, God’s answer to that for us is humble patience.

What would it look like to develop patience in your life this summer? Think about the rest of your summer. What will you encounter? A vacation? Stressful work situation? A transition? A family reunion? Horrible traffic? Long lines in restaurants?

Every day you can practice patience. It may not be something you get RIGHT NOW. God is the One who can help us develop patience. It’s because of Jesus Christ in our life, that we can be filled with grace and His presence to show patience.

Ask God for patience! Make it a part of your daily prayer to Him. He will answer!

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.