Hitting Pause

Read This: Philippians 4:6-7: Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (NET)

Watch This:

Think: How much noise do you find in your life? As you're reading this, maybe you can hear a fan, a neighbor working on his deck, or the occasional dog bark or truck drive by. But even if it was completely silent in your house, would you find things to fill the quiet space (even the quiet space in your mind)? Maybe you'd scroll through social media feeds, blast music, talk to your pets. Anything to avoid the silence. But why? What are we afraid to hear in that silence?

How about chaos? Got any of that around you? It seems like we live in a time where every minute of every day is filled with something to do, watch, talk about, see, etc. Even when your day isn’t filled with work or driving your kids around or running errands, do you manage to find enough to keep yourself busy and fill your day rather than just being still?

All that noise and chaos creates anxiety. But we’re told that we don’t need to be anxious about anything. If we're not anxious, perhaps that’s when we're able to be serene? Serenity means calm and peaceful. It’s the absence of chaos—a hush, a pause. Other than occasionally pulling your hair out and shouting the line, “Serenity now!," when do you even think about serenity? When do you look for (or create) a hush or a pause in your life?

God is here and He sent the Holy Spirit to guide us. But most of the time, we're too wrapped up in our own noise and chaos that we don’t even realize we're in His presence, let alone hear what He has to say to us.

If you find that your life is a little too loud and crowded lately, consider stepping back and hitting pause.

Ask: Why do I fill my days with noise, busyness, or distractions? What is God whispering to me that I’m too afraid to let myself hear? How can I surrender and embrace serenity, taking time to pause and be in the stillness?

Pray: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.