I prayed for words to emerge from the muddled mess of my mind, Words to soothe my weary soul, teach a lesson to carry me through and to encourage my heart. Words to draw near and hold close.
Life consists of a series of routine days, most of which are completed without too much variance from the normal. We come to expect the usual and fall into the steady rhythm that greets us each morning. When a sudden shift causes our routines to fall apart, the unexpected break leaves us without a sense of direction. We are still hanging onto normal while at the same time being pulled away by other responsibilities.
There is a lesson to be learned when life pauses and suddenly changes directions. God is in the pause and He creates the breaks from normal. His purpose is to gently draw us back to Him.
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In James 4, we read these words…
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
and in verse 10, it says…
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
A change in routine is a call for redirection. It is God’s way of teaching us His truth and leading us to His promises. It is a chance to admit our weakness and let God fill us with His strength. It is a second chance to focus on what is truly important.
When we draw near to God, we learn…
Our muddled mess becomes God’s glorious certainty.
Using our own strength and our own timing, we very well may remain in that gray area of uncertainty. But when we turn to God and hand over our messes, we release it all to Him. God is always stronger and wiser than we will ever be. His glorious certainty is exactly what we need throughout the messiness we create.
His redirection takes us straight to the loving arms of our Savior.
We are gently drawn back into God’s arms when we accept the pause that comes from God. His loving words and reminders of truth and provision draw us back into the place we are known – God’s arms.
Accept the pause and heed the lesson
Life is not always what we expect. There are times of change and uncertainty knocking into our normal routines. Interruptions are God’s way of gently getting our attention and bringing us back to what is important. In the space of the pause, God is working to teach us and show us again a lesson we may have heard many times before. Accept the space and allow the love and grace of God to fill you one more time.
Today, the words from Hebrews teach us of a faith, filled with the assurance that God will never let us down. It is is holding onto hope, which leads us to God and the truth of His promises.
God’s faithful assurance will always lead us through the space of a pause in our day to day routines. His grace and love will teach us and show us the way when we are caught in the fog of uncertainty.
How will you accept the pauses in your life and draw closer to God?
In grace and peace,
Mary
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I think I must have a conflict between the expectations of my routine and the actual events of the day because right now there is not one. Each morning is full of surprises that disorganize what I think that routine should be – and your post has me thinking that maybe I need to review my expectations and expect the unexpected – and then instead of going into a whirl at the chaos – just like you said, draw near to him in the readjustment. You’ve got the wheels turning in this brain of mine – and I needed that eye-opener to readjust! Thank you, Mary!
I’m glad your wheels are turning. I hope you will share with me as you process this some more and perhaps come to some new conclusions. Somedays all I know how to do is to draw near to God because the normal has somehow all flown out of window. I pray that we all feel God’s presence in every part of our day, normal or not. Thank you for being here.
Hi Friend! Hope today is a little better. I just wanted to let you know that I nominated you for a blogging award. No worries if you cannot or choose not to participate. You can read more about my nomination here: http://prayingontheprairie.blogspot.com/2016/01/its-award-season.html
Mary, this is so true, but I never thought about it this way! God comes in when we reach those ‘direction changes’ while we decide whether to give it to Him or try to walk in our own strength. Sometimes we stay stuck in that gray area for so long – I know that is true for me. The scripture you shared in Hebrews brings me a heaping load of comfort this morning:)
God is in our normal, He is in the pauses and in every detail. When I believe this, I can accept the interruptions as part of God’s plan. His plan is always perfect and that is hard for me to embrace, when it is not fitting in with my idea of how things should go. However, by drawing near to God I can learn, gain strength and seek comfort. Thank you for being here, Kristine.
In every situation, whether a pause, change, trial, uncertainty, etc… I see how it’s an opportunity for us to learn what it means to depend on Him. To draw near to Him. And how wonderful that we can always know that is His plan… to draw us closer to Him. Not sure if that all came out correctly but beautiful reflections, Mary.
Love you so.
xoxo
Amen! I must need the reminder often to draw near to God because He has been providing quite a few pauses in my life recently. Your words make perfect sense and I love the reminder that all of life is part of God’s plans, even the interruptions.
Thank you for being here and encouraging me! Love and hugs!
Oh wow, this is the third blog post I’ve read today that speaks about life’s interruptions and how we need to make space for them. God is certainly hammering this message home loud and clear! Your words here gave me particualr pause for thought: “Interruptions are God’s way of gently getting our attention and bringing us back to what is important. In the space of the pause, God is working to teach us and show us again a lesson we may have heard many times before. Accept the space and allow the love and grace of God to fill you one more time.”
I find myself needing to day yes to having the grace to accept the space. Maybe God is warning me of something up ahead or slowing down my impatient soul as I try to piece my put-aside-for-a-long-while prospective poetry anthology together. Whatever it is (or may be), the lessons I am learning here are so helpful and inspiring. Thank you, Mary. I’m always blessed by my visits here!
Thank you for speaking into my heart with your sweet encouragement. I write because God has a message for me and if it touches one other person along the way, then I have done what God has asked me to do. I am so glad you were that “one”.
It is this beautiful community that keeps me going many times and you are such an important member. Much love to you!
Hi Mary! Hmmm…that whole ‘double minded’ thing is convicting, isn’t it? Really makes me stop and think about where my mind is.
Pauses. Sometimes they are definitely needed. But then there are times when it seems like the brakes are squealing, and I don’t get it. Why am I stopping just when I got on a roll? But as you point out, it’s an invitation to listen. To slow down.
We all need that at times. Probably more than we’ll ever know.
Love your Scripture quote from James. I’m a James fan too 🙂
Blessings,
Ceil
We can’t always choose when to pause, but God can and does. I have been experiencing many pauses in my normal recently to the point that I’m not sure what normal looks like. All I know to do is to hang on tight to God which is doe by drawing near. It has helped me to gain some certainty in my uncertainty. So glad you love James-He wrote some words that seem to speak to what we need to hear. Hugs friend!
Yes, God is in all the pauses we encounter in life, Mary. Such a good reminder. It’s interesting that you should mention James 4: 8 and 10 because that was where I was in my quiet time just the other day. I’m loving the book of James. I’ve always loved it but am really slowing down my pace to savor every morsel this time around. Thanks for being a beautiful and inspiring voice to us each week, my friend!
You are welcome! Having you here is always a pleasure, Beth!
So much THIS: “We are gently drawn back into God’s arms when we accept the pause that comes from God. His loving words and reminders of truth and provision draw us back into the place we are known – God’s arms.” God is that soft place for us to land,
God is the soft place to land. Looks like I need to head to your place to read more about that. Thank you for stopping by today. I just love how you check in here. You are a blessing!
So true that He is in the pause and drawing us to Him. Thank you for the Hebrews reference!
Mary, beautiful post. Change does give us reason to pause and seek the what next from God. I’m so glad you joined us today on #RaRaLinkUp. It’s given me the opportunity to soak up some of your wisdom.
Blessings ~
Thank you for hosting the linkup this week. I love seeing how this beautiful community interacts with each other. I appreciate your words of affirmation today! Blessings!
Such a great word today, Mary. I’ve experienced some pauses of late and God met me in them. They weren’t what I would have chosen for myself, but I’m so glad that He wrote good into them and drew me closer to Him. Thanks for the reminder that there is grace even in the things we perceive as interruptions. So glad we were neighbors at #tellhisstory.
Amen! Grace in the interruptions. Always grace! It is hard to look for the good in the times when life changes direction but knowing God is with us is reminder enough that there is good. Blessings to you!
Mary,
Just because there is a pause in our life, it doesn’t mean that God is out on a coffee break or tending to something or someone else more important at the moment. His pauses…as is His timing is always perfect. It’s me who needs to trust more in the pause, the shift in direction, the about face. Thanks for the encouragement sweet friend,
Blessings,
Bev
There are no coffee breaks for God. Thank you for that image because it puts into perspective that He is with us every minute and in every detail of our lives. Thank you for being here and encouraging me with your words too!
Mary, what a beautiful post! The space of a pause . . . well, God paused me this weekend, which I’ll probably share more on later. It’s such a reassurance to know that those pauses not only don’t take God by surprise, but are often divinely orchestrated by Him so that we have to seek Him for direction. It’s a hard, but reassuring place to be.
I loved this: “In the space of the pause, God is working to teach us and show us again a lesson we may have heard many times before. Accept the space and allow the love and grace of God to fill you one more time.” Such truth here my friend!
Thank you for your sweet words, Jeanne! God is never surprised and I appreciate how you reminded me that God gives us the pauses or interruptions in order to seek Him for direction. Leaning in and holding on are all I know how to do in this times. Thank you for being here and filling me with your words too!
Thank you for this insightful reflection, Mary. I love how God works to draw us closer to Him and He will never let us down.
It is a big truth to hold onto in those uncertain moments, isn’t it? When we let go of trying to do it all ourselves and draw near to God, He draws ever closer to us. Hugs to you on this Wednesday!
It’s in that “gasp,” in the “oh, no, what do I do now?” that I lose my footing if I’m not careful. We cling so hard to the known that when it shifts on us, we get resentful. Trusting for grace to put those pauses, delays, season of unknowing to good use. God never wastes anything.
Thank you for affirming again for me that God never wastes anything. I know He is in every detail and it’s hard when those details are not of our own choosing. Your words here have reminded me again of how important it is to lean into God for everything.
Blessings, Michele and thank you for your kindness.
Right now my daily routine has changed, but it hasn’t been a pause. In our home school, I realize that for the next couple of weeks, my daughter may need my help for the full hour of class time. (As opposed to spending 15 minutes with her and letting her work independently.) This means a big chunk of free time(well time to work on other things) is gone. 🙂
It’s not a pause, but I’m believing God is in it, and He has purposes for me to learn things.
I think the point is knowing God is in everything. I called it a pause because it stops our normal routine and causes us to change direction from what is our normal. I get lulled into this sense of a rhythm as my days seem to go by at a regular pace and without too much difficulty. When I am interrupted by the unexpected, it causes my rhythm to get out of sync. As you work with your daughter for longer periods, I imagine the usual flow to your day will look very different. I pray we both see God in these interruptions and believe that He is always working for our good.