Pausing to Detach
So much about the pace of life conspires against us. We might even be convinced that the faster we go and the busier we become, the more we’ll get done. But what does that kind of toxicity do to our souls? Could it be that God invites us to find Him through a different rhythm? What would happen if we built pauses into our day—benevolent detachment from the siren call of the fast and furious. Maybe God is not waiting for us to catch up; instead, maybe He’s waiting for us to slow down.
In what ways has your life been taken hostage by the pace and distractions of life? What happens to your inner world when you feel squeezed from every side by life’s incessant demands?
What do you find calming and reassuring in Jesus’ words from Matthew 11:28-30? (Look at the Message translation of this passage.) What would it mean for you to live “freely and lightly?”
Read Psalm 131:2. What responsibility does the Psalmist take in calming and quieting his soul? How might you build a pause into your life? (Consider using the Pause App as a tool.)
Benevolent detachment is a way of pulling aside in faith. What would it mean for you to give everyone and everything to God? How did Jesus practice benevolent detachment (Mark 1:35-38)?
What is causing you the most anxiety? What comfort do you find in 1 Peter 5:7? Take a moment to give to God your most pressing concerns.
The Simple Daily Things
Too often we look for God in the extraordinary when all the while, He makes His home in the ordinary. God is not that hard to find, especially if we’re looking for Him. Maybe we can get our lives back by inviting Jesus into our everyday routine of life. Pay close...
The Hidden Life of God in You
Does it ever feel like you’re just going through the motions in your faith? You go to church, pray, read the Bible, but you don’t feel a deep connection with God. Instead, you feel a nagging absence as if He’s hiding away somewhere. The good news is God is closer than...
Believe
Faith is far more than a feeling. Just because we don’t feel the presence of God doesn’t mean He isn’t there. We are often misled by our emotions, feelings, and circumstances. But choosing to believe in the power and presence of God is a choice. We must make that...
The Gifts of Memory
Time for us travels in only one direction, such that once a moment is past it’s gone forever. While this helps us deal with life’s challenges (“time heals all wounds”) we can also experience a strong sense of loss and even grief as we pass through the joyous times of...
Caring for the Neglected Places in Your Soul
One of the age old practices in our culture is that of presenting who we are as our vocation. We present our occupation title as a means to inform our new acquaintance of our function. In essence, we unknowingly begin to associate our vocations or contribution to...
Surrendering the Self Life
Over time, almost imperceptibly, we can get stuck in the trance of constructing our role in the world, building our identity, and completely miss what God is doing around us. We can spend a lot of time and energy protecting this Self we’ve created at all costs. As...
Remembering Who You Love
The twists and turns of life can sometimes feel like an assault on our confidence that God is good. Doubts can begin to surface, directing our attention away from God and negatively impacting our relationships with Jesus Christ and others. In these instances, we must...
Allowing for Transitions
Doesn’t it seem like the space between “what was” and “what’s next” makes us uncomfortable? Maybe that’s the reason we fill every empty or quiet moment with noise and activity—a glance at our phone between conversations, checking email between appointments, aimless...
Get Outside
Here’s a disturbing reality: we spend most of our lives indoors. We were meant for more than a plastic world with artificial light and re-breathed air. God can be found anywhere. But something special happens when we encounter God outside. Nature has the power to calm...
Kindness Toward Ourselves
There is often enormous pressure to keep up with the non-stop noise and activity of our modern world. Jesus offers us an alternative to this frantic pace but following Him and resisting the pressure around us will require a simple act: kindness toward ourselves. Is...
Simple Unplugging
Our immediate access to people and information through the use of technology has become a prevailing cultural norm. What has become the normal daily consumption of input can have a numbing effect on our soul and lead to our faith gradually growing thinner and thinner...
Drinking Beauty
God paints on a large canvas. His creativity is seen in the grandeur of the mountains, in the wildflowers on a rolling hillside, in classic masterpieces in an art gallery, or in the curious expression on the face of a child. Beauty is all around us. But seeing it...