Greetings Friends:
It is great to be back after a week off in beautiful Phoenix. One of the many things I noticed out there was how fast everybody drives! It is like New York or Chicago where they pass you and then cut into your lane. We end up side by side or me behind them at the stop light. All that hurry and (semi) dangerous driving for nothing! Since I was a tourist I was taking in the sights around me like the beautiful flowering trees, the palm trees and cacti. Gorgeous blue sky and rich sunshine all around.
I saw all that rushing around at the airport as well. The airport I think is the epitome of “hurry up and wait”. We left my home at 3 a.m. to get to the airport for the 6 a.m. flight. We were at the gate before 5 with time to spare. I personally would rather have it that way than to be late, especially at the airport. And, as the plane came to the gate on arrival, everyone gets up and grabs their baggage and stand there while we wait. It’s always 10-15 minutes or more before they get the ramp hooked up and we can leave the plane. There is a kind of unspoken hurry around the airport and on the airplane. I get that. We don’t want to be late, we don’t want to be held up, we don’t want to stand in line. Sometimes we have no choice.
How is your waiting, spiritually? Having a hard time? Inpatient? In a rush and you don’t know why? It’s part of our culture these days, part of life. Our work is to push that aside and slow down. And you know there are lots of ways to do that. We just need to give ourselves permission to let go of doing and remember we are human “beings!” I once heard Diane Purcell, who serves the Lord as an advisor on the Board, say it is called “46:10-ing” before. From the Bible in Psalm 46:10 come words to live by. These words can slow us down. They give us permission to notice, look around, smell the flowers, and let God be God.
No matter where you are in this post-Easter season Jesus has still defeated death. He still rose again and he rises up anew in our lives every day. Allow that “new-ness” to flow in to your heart. Be refreshed like a spring rain knowing that God is in charge, God has this under control and it is not up to you and it is not up to me! Slow down today and this week and notice. Intentionally say to yourself over and over “slow down”, and slow yourself. Take some pictures of flowers and blooming trees around us. Walk with a friend of family member. Do something for someone else and just relax and be yourself! That’s what I did over vacation as I read books, rested and let go.
And that verse? “Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10, and all God’s people say “AMEN!”
Come and “Be Still” with your brothers and sisters for the July National Gathering! Visit www.viadecristo.org for details.
Pastor Doug Givan
Staff Chaplain
Clay, Brazil
Seton, Indy
Eric is our current Webmaster and works on the NLS Communications Team. Raised in Judaism, he found Christ and the New Testament at age 16 in a Southern Baptist Church. He searched many denominations for the real church, only to find the Holy Spirit is present in all of them. He's worked for One for Israel, a group of native Israeli believers who are sharing the gospel in the holy land in Hebrew and is part of the only Hebrew speaking seminary in Israel.
