We have all felt the overwhelming societal pressure to \u201cstay busy\u201d, whether it be during these times, or before. Many of us have been furloughed from work and now have less of a rigid agenda to akin to. This allows us to carve out space for a new daily routine, one that can hit pause on life and re-connect with our Lord. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know some of us have kids and that can definitely keep us pretty busy. Or some of us are keyworkers and now have even less time to relax. But I invite you to form new habits; ones of rest, reading the word, meditation on it, and quieter walks along your road (challenge: a prayer walk!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Personally, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever had such a singular stretch of time with no timetable that I have to keep up with, probably since I was a child. Even on holiday there is always somewhere to go, something to do, or a new city to discover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I now get to wake up when I want, sleep when I want, eat and drink\u2026 when I want. It\u2019s freeing and a blessing. In fact, my head has never been so clear or at peace, even with traumatic circumstances. I\u2019ve had time to catch up with life and breathe. I\u2019ve been able to slow down with each turn and bend that needs to happen along the road we travel. It\u2019s healthy, not only mentally but spiritually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Friendships I\u2019ve neglected due to \u201cnot enough time in the day?\u201d I\u2019m now able to spend time re-connecting with them again. All of those emotions and feelings I\u2019ve pushed to the side or have pushed down into the crevices of my mind? I\u2019ve been able to think about them and embrace them. And I\u2019ve been able to let them go as needed, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve never had so much time to sit, and to think, and also get bored. I have no pull to \u201cdo\u201d anything, and this has faced me with the ability to thrive. It has stretched me, rested me, and even allowed me to grow and develop with a healthy and full-minded state of being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe the Lord is calling us to this; our whole sense of being committed to Him, committed to His causes, and His times of peace. We are called to more intimacy and companionship with our precious Saviour. We are called to choose faith over our own fears and the fear that the world is throwing our way at every turn \u2013 if even for five more minutes than normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can now find sheer moments of each day we are given to truly delve into our thoughts and feelings, and focus on them with the presence of the Lord surrounding us. It\u2019s refreshing and life giving, and a necessity to our walk with Him. We no longer have to rush around and get somewhere, sacrificing ourselves for the sake of a job, or school, or dare I say it, people who might be toxic. We have time to soul search and see what\u2019s really underneath the surface of our skin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is our time of self-reflection; to turn inward instead of outward. How\u2019s our relationship with God really doing? Now that we have time to spend with Him, are we doing so?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is drawing us near with the intention of self-discovery, without the chaos of life tugging and pulling us every which way. He is inviting us to form a deeper partnership with Him with a stable foundation of time, peace, rest, and contentment. It\u2019s something we can carry forward into whatever the world may look like after this virus has left us. In its wake, we will awaken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isaiah 32:17-18 says, \u201cand the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When has this ever been truer than now? We are in a true quiet, a true peace. Our souls are cleansed of the daily chaos and bustle of a busy life. We are slowed to the pace of a Sovereignty who is not worried about where He has to go and is certainly not worried about keeping face like we as humans often do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isaiah 26:3 reminds us, \u201cyou keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can find true peace and now actually take the time to search for it; since let\u2019s be real \u2013 what else do we have to do? Even as some of us head back to work or have had to continue working during these crazy times, let us embrace the slower crawl of the world as it is right now, and match our pace again to Christ\u2019s who will never fail us.
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We have all felt the overwhelming societal pressure to \u201cstay busy\u201d, whether it be during these times, or before. Many of us have been furloughed from work and now have less of a rigid agenda to akin to. This allows us to carve out space for a new daily routine, one that can hit pause […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elegant-germain.77-68-99-159.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elegant-germain.77-68-99-159.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elegant-germain.77-68-99-159.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elegant-germain.77-68-99-159.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elegant-germain.77-68-99-159.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/elegant-germain.77-68-99-159.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elegant-germain.77-68-99-159.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elegant-germain.77-68-99-159.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elegant-germain.77-68-99-159.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elegant-germain.77-68-99-159.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}