Take Time, Be Still

Here are some thoughts from the Apostle Paul that stop me dead in my tracks:

​“Everything is yours, including the world, life, death, the present, and the future. Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. Think of us as servants of Christ who have been given the work of explaining God’s mysterious ways.”
(I Corinthians 3: 21 – 4:1)

Really? Me? Explain the mysterious ways of God?

I have too much reading to do. There are times when Heather will send me an article or meditation that impressed her, so she passes it on, hoping I will enjoy it, as well. A day or so later she will ask, “Michael, did you read the meditation I sent? What did you think?” Too often my response is, “I saw it. But I only read the title and a paragraph or two. It was interesting – thanks!” But I never really read it. I certainly did not reflect on it for long. I have too much reading to do.

I believe all of us will agree that we live in a culture where too much information comes to us way too fast. It is said, “This is the age of raplexity; rapid and complex change.” Yet, the mysterious ways of God that we are tasked with explaining, do not reveal themselves rapidly.

The hopeful promise Paul has for us is that everything belongs to us and we belong to Christ. The great challenge for us is to carve out time every single day to live, move, and have our being at a slower pace, in a more reflective, prayerful, and quiet way. “Be still...and know that I am God.” That is the pathway to understanding the mysterious ways of God.

Brothers and sisters, the world is coming at us from every angle and is coming at us fast; can we pause long enough to really become still? Will we take the time to prayerfully ponder the mysterious ways of God? That is a New Year’s resolution all of us can make.

Take time to be holy,
Pastor Michael