"HIT PAUSE"


In Psalm 46:10 , our word for today from the Word of God, He says, "Be still, and know that I am God." Hit pause and remember who's really in charge here, whose battle this really is, and whose plans you're supposed to be pursuing. God may be trying to get you to slow down or to stop right now so He can show you some things that you are never going to see if you're on the run.
It could be that you've been running ahead of the Lord's timing, or you've been pursuing what you want instead of what He wants. Isaiah quotes the Lord as saying, "Woe to the obstinate children...to those who carry out plans that are not Mine..." (Isaiah 30:1 ). Those are sobering words. Often we can't see that we're trying desperately to make something work that wasn't God's idea in the first place. He has to pull us over to the side of the road for us to realize that we're on the wrong road.
Or maybe you've been neglecting the regular timeout that God calls a "Sabbath"; you're all accelerator and no brakes, you're violating God's created order of taking regular rest. It's possible that God's been trying to say some very important things to you, things that would bring sense to your swirling world, but you can't hear Him because you're running so fast. Whatever the reason for your non-stop pace, I know there has to be someone listening right now to whom God is saying, "It's time to hit 'pause.'" Don't ignore His call to "be still and know that He is God."
If we don't choose to slow down, He will as the 23rd Psalm says, "make us lie down in green pastures." He has many creative ways to get you to slow down if you don't choose to slow down - health, finances, crises, family problems. He asks us to pause, or ultimately makes us pause, not to punish us, but to refit us. He's wanting to slow you down for work that needs to be done, for refueling that you desperately need, for retooling, or for redirecting you back into the center of His will. And He's actually wired us to do what His Son did at the beginning of His unbelievably busy days here on earth - to spend quiet time with Him. To hit 'pause' each new day so we can hear our Master's voice before we hear any other, appropriate our Master's resources, experience our Master's healing touch, and receive our Master's orders for the day.
When you don't hit "pause," you'll end up running right past the God that you can't do without.