Slowing Down
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
“He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10
“Slow down, slow down, slow down.” That’s the phrase I kept hearing over and over again this afternoon on my walk. Today is the first small taste of fall that we’ve had here in Tennessee. The sky is bright blue, there is little to no humidity in the air, and it felt great to be outside moving my legs. But what I kept coming back to was how hard I was trying to push myself to walk at my “normal” (read: very fast) pace. And how bad it hurt to do so.
I am currently half way through my first pregnancy, and let me tell you, this experience has so challenged everything I know and believe about myself and God. I love to exercise, especially walk outside, and where I can normally pump out a few miles very quickly, I find myself with side stiches and out of breath as I push myself too much.
Yet, it’s harder for me to stop the pushing than I’d like to admit. I think part of the reason I keep pushing is that I’m afraid that if I’m “not trying or working hard enough,” then there’s something wrong with me. It seems crazy when I read it out loud and think about my own mindset. Who else is tracking how fast my little pregnant body is moving on my walk besides me? Answer: No one. And probably everyone would repeat the same words to me that I heard in my spirit. Slow down, slow down, slow down.
Slow. Down. Take a deep breath. Stop doing for a few minutes, and let the silence fill you. Let your slow, deep breaths move your lungs and grow you. Let the peace and stillness that are there in the silence five you rest. So often you miss these gifts because you are too busy staying in your frantic run.
These are the truths I feel God whispering to me as I think about my walk and my current way of life. I would bet there are more of us who stay in our frantic business, trying to “earn” our goodness, than we’d like to admit. But the beautiful truth is that we don’t have to stay there.
Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is a season for everything. There is a season for pushing hard and a season for resting more. There will be other seasons where you have more time or more capacity, but today it is okay to rest and take it slow. The long to-do list will still be there later. Don’t miss the moment to be still and let God speak to you.