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.
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.
“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.
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