Doesn’t a forced pause always seem to happen at the most inopportune times?
Not now, Lord, we tend to whisper loudly. I have noticed though, as I get older, that maybe I would do better to not resist these unchosen times of slowing down (and, often, solitude). Because really, in fighting so hard to move forward, I miss the chance to let my body and soul rest for a brief time. Savoring the pause is simply holding a posture of being resolved while not giving up.
Whether we’re in a beach chair or on bed rest, we can let God have the control back when we accept the season we are in. We can lean in and listen to what’s next. Despite feeling like we are in a holding pattern, slowing down prepares us for the upcoming season of life. It gives us time to pause, to reflect, and to shift ideas. That doesn’t happen when we’re racing around. It also gives others a chance to do their thing, like love on us. Sometimes we need to be taken care of but can’t see that we need help.
Sometimes we are changed from the inside, where a shift slowly starts to happen, like a large cruise ship turning around to find a better route in a majestic sea. I think it probably goes without saying that almost everyone we know has stood on the shores of a long season of slowing down, whether they wanted to or not. We have the choice to dismiss our story or accept it. Sometimes life’s biggest waves knock us down and sometimes they clean us up.
Many of us would willingly change things in our lives if given the time and the opportunity.
Being forced to rest or reset got our attention and gave some of us that time and opportunity. I am seeing an underlying gratitude for a way out of a culturally dictated lifestyle which people felt stuck in.
We don’t usually plan for times when we need someone to step in and help us in a big way. But inevitably we will run into a season of life when we need to step away for rest. In God’s provision, this is his gentle invitation to exhale. Sometimes we just have to let a friend carry us through the darkness, whether that’s literally or figuratively. We have to accept help to slow down.
There are times when we find ourselves as the recipient of a grace so big it resembles arrows pointing to God himself. I have learned to not take neighbors for granted. I have also seen lavish graciousness poured out to me when I could never pay it back. The sheer gift of someone else’s time, deep sacrifice, and kindness can be mind-blowing when you look back.
I remain in complete wonder at how God sees us, offers us a way out, and uses other people to show us his magnificent love and care.
Adapted from Live Slowly by Jodi H. Grubbs. ©2024 by Jodi Heather Grubbs. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com.
Jodi H. Grubbs is the podcast host of Our Island in the City and a slow-living advocate. She is the author of Live Slowly. She is the author of a children’s book, The Island Adventures of Lili and Oliver, and coauthor of a Bible study called The Friendship Café.
Live Slowly After assuming the rapid pace and stress of city living in the States, Jodi Grubbs realized God was bidding her to return to the “island time” of her childhood home. Evoking the gentle rhythms of Bonaire in the Caribbean, Jodi invites you to a life anchored by the forced pauses of spiritual practices and an openhandedness before God.