Slow Down!

Life...constantly busy...always running somewhere....groceries to buy...dishes to wash...kids to teach...people to care for.... Where does God fit into all of this?

I am very busy all the time. I love being busy and get bored when I don't have a hundred projects going on. I thrive on only a few hours of sleep and staying busy is my addiction. Unfortunately sometimes I get too busy and I tend to let something slide and to be completely honest I've let my relationship with God take a back burner the last few months. Sure I go to church and pray but I've been missing my daily appointments with Him. I can hear Him begging me to come back but I drownd His voice out with the clamor of dishes and the sound of little feet running around the house. I know I need Him. I know I've missed Him but by the time I settle down long enough to give Him a few seconds of my time, I'm falling asleep.

Three weeks ago, I was at church cooking our Wednesday night meal for Awana, something I love to do! I was draining a giant pot of macaroni noodles and I managed to pour the entire pot of boiling water down my legs and onto my feet. I ended up getting burned quite badly and have spent the last three weeks healing from those burns and infections that have accompanied them.

In this time of being forced to slow down and stop, I have realized that I was blocking God out and that this was what it took to slow me down and make me stop and realize that He was missing me as much as I was missing Him. It's sad that it took something as painful as this to learn this lesson. But sometimes we're stubborn and we're so busy doing things our way it takes something drastic to wake us up.

God's talking to us! Are we listening? Don't make Him have to slow you down in order for you to listen to His message. He has so much He longs to tell you.

Are you standing at a crossroads and you have no idea what direction He wants you to take? Ask Him. He wants to reveal it to you. Numbers 9:8 says - "And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you." 1 Samuel 9:27 says - "And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us,(and he passed on), but stand thou still a while, that I may show thee the word of God."

Have you forgotten all the ways He has provided for you in the past? He wants to remind you of these things if we only stand still and listen. 1 Samuel 12:7 says - "Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which He did to you and to your fathers."

He wants to remind you that He has power over every situation! Are you facing tough times and you've forgotten He is in control? Job 37:14 says - "Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God." Stop trying to solve your own problems! We only create more problems when we try to solve things on our own!

What does He want to tell you? What is that we are missing by staying so busy? Psalm 46:10 says - "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

Give it a try. Slow down. Stop. Listen. You may be surprised by what He has to tell you. Don't wait until He has to slow you down!