BRINGING THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES INTO YOUR DAILY LIFE

I have challenged us to learn to incorporate "sabbath" moments and days and seasons into our life. I have called it "the pause that refreshes". To Sabbath is to cease, to stop, and to pause from our busy days in order to "be still and know that He is God" (Psalm 46:10).These are radical, lifer-giving, relationship building, soul enhancing acts that impact not only our relationship with God, but also impact every other relationship and activity that we have on this earth. To take the pause that refreshes is a powerful declaration that we make about God, ourselves, our relationships, our beliefs, our priorities, and our values.

How do we busy American Christians realistically take the pause that refreshes and incorporate it into our daily lives? It starts by the resetting of our entire lives towards a new destination: "Knowing God, glorifying God, and enjoying Him forever." I cannot emphasize this enough. If you want to be close with God you must intentionally begin to create moments of time in order to spend with Him. The key action in taking "the pause that refreshes" is centered in the word "stop". We must stop our activities for a moment in order to "start" to get close to God; to be with Him, and to commune and fellowship with Him. As John Owen suggests,

“Friendship with God is most maintained and kept up by visits”. Oh how we need regular visits with God to stoke the fires of our love!

So, I am suggesting that we begin to set aside small moments of time throughout our busy days for pauses that infuse into all our daily activities and my busy schedule my life a deeper sense of God and His presence.

I myself typically pause at least morning, midday, and evening. I also approach each of those times differently. My morning pause is very structured and the longest of my pauses during the day. In the morning I will start off in prayer. I pray slowly the Lord's prayer. Then I read through several Psalms listening, reflecting, and praying them back to God. Then I reflectively and slowly read through a chapter or two of some book in the bible( I read through the bible each year). After reading I go back and again pray the scriptures back to the Lord. After that I read Spurgeon's Morning and Evening as well as Streams in the Desert. I always close my time with more prayer.

The afternoon pause is more of me being centered and quiet before the Lord. I might preach a scripture to my self or just begin to give and release to the Lord my burdens, my sins, my fears, anxieties, my feelings. After releasing all those things to the Lord I receive His presence, love, grace, mercy, help, and open myself to anything He might have to speak to me at that moment.

Before I go to bed, I read Spurgeon again and then reflect upon my day. I confess any sins I failed earlier to confess, I think about His providence's throughout the day, the graces, love. mercies, and kindness that God showed me throughout the day, and I receive again His grace for my sleep. I ask God to speak to me in my dreams and intercede for others.

So there are at least three times a day I stop to take a pause. But I also spontaneously take several other pauses during my day. Perhaps I am feeling anxious and I stop to confess and release and receive His comfort and peace. Maybe I am about to speak to someone. I will give the Lord my fears or concerns and ask Him to glorify Himself through my encounter with this person. Maybe I am out surfing and there is a very aggressive and competitive attitude out in the water. I will paddle away and begin confessing my emotions to the Lord and ask for His peace and calm. I will remind myself that the Lord is present and that I am to honor Him out surfing. I will get centered again and remind myself it doe not really matter in the light of eternity. Sometimes I sit in my garden and get quiet to just listen to the water trickle in my fountain and to the birds sing. I become alive to God and to His creation. I will become still and breath in God's presence in creation. At night I will look up at the stars and the moon and take all of it in.

How much time you spend, the content of your time spent, and how many times you take a pause is up to you. You can be structured about it or completely flexible. I have simply given you some ideas and suggestions from my own life. The goal of taking "the pause that refreshes" is the remembrance of God, fellowship with God, and communion and intimacy with Him. All of these pauses are meant to cultivate and continual and easy familiarity with God's presence throughout the rest of the day. This is not meant to be a burdensome duty or obligation, it is meant to become a delight, a joy, something you look forward to enhance your life.

In his book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, author Peter Scazzero suggests four elements that, no matter how much or little time you spend, are important in effectively experiencing "the pause that refreshes".

1. STOPPING

We stop our activity and pause in order to be with God. Our time with God no matter how short or long is unhurried so that what we read or pray sinks into our spirits.

2. CENTERING

We are commanded to "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him" (Psalm 37:7) and "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10). This is the activity of stopping to move into God's presence and resting there for a moment. It involves becoming quiet, focusing my attention, relaxing, sitting still, and closing my eyes. I release all of the stuff going on inside my brain and all the tension, the distractions, all my sins, and I receive His Holy Spirit and presence.I ask for help, for mercy, for grace, for strength, and whatever I need from Him at that moment. It puts my focus away from myself, my circumstances, people, my environment, and calls back to my attention my love, my redeemer, my friend, my maker, my Lord, and my God. It causes my mind's attention and focus to get centered and keep centered upon what my life is really all about. "For to me to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21). "Christ is your life." (Colossians 3:4).

3. SILENCE AND SOLITUDE

Solitude is the practice of being absent from people. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote "Let him who cannot be alone, beware of being with others." It is being willing to be alone for a moment so as to really be able to "Be" with others. Silence is the practice of quieting all the inner and outer voices in order to hear God's voice. Remember how God revealed Himself to Elijah in "a still and small voice" (Literally a "sheer whisper") (1 Kings 19:12). i have found silence and quiet to be full of God's presence. Turn off the cell phone for a moment, turn down the answer machine, turn off the radio, go away from superficial, empty conversation, and be still not just to be still, but to know that He is God.

4. READING, REFLECTING UPON,AND PRAYING SCRIPTURE

The Psalms are so important because they are God's prayer book given to us. The rest of scripture is a gift that reveals God, His character, His word, His gospel, His works, His plans, His promises, His demands, His warnings, to us. the scriptures are the primary way that God speaks to us and we are promised great blessings when we read them (Revelation 1:3) and meditate upon them (Read Psalm 1). What is important is that we see that God has something to say to us each and every time we read and reflect upon even one verse of His word. I say pray the word because when we pray we are responding to God in what He has just spoken to us. Isn't that part of a relationship; listening and then responding?

In conclusion, the purpose of "the pause that refreshes" is to remember God and commune with Him all throughout your day. Please keep that in mind. God isn't asking you to do this to in order to win His favor, love, or grace. You already have His favor. you are loved fully right now as you are by Him. He freely offers you fresh grace moment by moment. God is offering you a deeper, richer, more abundant experience of Him that you have ever known by beginning to take
THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES.

Pastor Bill