Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, February 2019]

At the prayer meeting just before the service last week, one of those present commented on how time just seems to fly by. It seems like only a short while ago that it was Christmas and here we are about to go into Spring. When I was asked how my week had been, all I could remember was that it had been busy, packed full of things that needed doing. I looked forward to the weekend, when things would be quieter.

A well-known poem by Willian Henry Davies contains the lines:

What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs and stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass, where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight, streams full of stars, like skies at night…………..
A poor life this if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.

In Mark 1: 38, we are told that very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. I am beginning to see that I can’t just wait for less busy periods – they seldom come. I need to learn, in the hustle and bustle, to make time to pause, to rest and to reflect, to make my requests known to God.

Psalm 23 says that God makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. It would be a shame if we were too busy to appreciate this. It is the person who pauses and appreciates the green pastures and quiet waters who comes back with his soul restored, not the one who like me, has often spent long days at work and then taken work along with him on holiday! I need to learn, in the hustle and bustle, to make time to pause, to rest and to reflect, to give thanks to God for his blessings.

We need also to appreciate and respond to things around us. It struck me that in the parable of the good Samaritan, three people saw the wounded man, but only one person paused and then went on to care for him. Paul, in the letter to the Galatians tells them to bear each other’s burdens. As we travel life’s journey, we should look to help lighten the loads of others that we meet. We are more likely to do this is if we stop long enough in our busy lives, to see the people around us and appreciate what they are going through.

So, in this week that’s up ahead, God is likely to bring various things across our paths – the work colleague going through hard times, the homeless person sleeping rough, glorious sunrises and sunsets… Whatever the situation, let’s resolve to take time not only to stand and stare, but also to care for those in need of our help and to give God thanks for all he has blessed us with.

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