In the madness of my busy morning (and may I add the boys were up at 5am…eek!), I’m having to choose to take a moment – stop – and take a breath. Sometimes I have been so caught up in the day-to-day craziness of this thing called ‘life’ and I have to admit at times that my eyes have been glued to the road and I haven’t always looked up to see who was around me, admire my surroundings, allow myself to serve others and most importantly acknowledge God who is in everything and in control of everything. So this morning, i’m choosing to take a moment and just STOP.
“S” is for still. Sometimes just being still for a few moments helps to put the business of life in perspective. Just now I’ve had to take a breath, acknowledge that life is a little crazy, but I will get through it because I have a God who is walking beside me through it all. Psalm 33:20-22 ‘We’re depending on God; he’s everything we need. What’s more, our hearts brim with joy since we’ve taken for our own his holy name. Love us, God, with all you’ve got— that’s what we’re depending on.’
“T” is for thankful. Be thankful for all the good things God has given to you; your family, friends, a roof over your head, food to eat (these are things that we so often take for granted). Remind yourself of the goodness of God and how he lavishes His love upon us – and we receive his love and grace daily, freely, undeservedly, and in great measure.
Psalm 7:17 says: ‘I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.’
“O” is for be an ‘overcomer‘. Claim the victory that is yours in Christ Jesus. Sometimes, myself included, we can act as though we are defeated and therefore we start to pity ourselves and get caught up in ourselves. But the bible says that we who believe in Christ Jesus have the victory over sin and death.
1 John 5 says: 1′Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.’
“P” is for praise. Give praise to God for the goodness He shows us daily. I have found that sometimes praise that is costly, is the most powerful. What I mean by that is sometimes when we’re having a hard time, grieving, sad, stressed or feeling weighed down in our circumstances – when we praise God and lift up the name of Jesus, something in the supernatural breaks through and even though it sometimes feels costly, God is honoured even in our pain. I have felt the amazing closeness of God in the times when life has been at it’s most painful – and it’s during those times of hardship when i’ve pressed through and praised Him, even though everything in the ‘natural’ would tell me to give up. I’m reminded of the song ‘Blessed be Your Name’ and especially the second verse that says:
Blessed be Your name
on the road marked with suffering,
though there’s pain in the offering,
Blessed be Your name.
May we all become a little better today at stopping….taking a breath…and living out this amazing life with our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ.
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