True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.
Psalm 23:3 (The Message)
Do you remember the outdoor games you played as child? I hope you have as many happy memories as I do, playing hide & go seek, knock down harry or "it", a variation of tag. We would spend our days, running around the neighbhourhood, whooping and hollering, hiding in Mr. Parry's front garden because he had the biggest bushes and you could actually get inside them. Even if the rhododendrons were wet from the rain, we didn't mind. This was Britain, after all, and rain was an established part of every outdoor event. It was such great fun!
As the game continued, you could always tell when one of us was about to be tagged because a voice would cry out "feinites", pronounced fay-nights, which was the British kid's way of yelling "Time out!" We didn't want to get caught and by calling a halt to the game, we could prolong the fun for ever.
But now that we're grown up, life just isn't as easy as a romp around the old neighbourhood, is it? When we're bustling about in our everyday lives and get into a jam we can't just fall down and holler "feinites" and expect the world to stop so that we can take a breather. No, friends, for some inexplicable reason the world just goes right on hurtling by even when we're worn out and need to take a break. In fact, by the world's standards, we are supposed to keep on speeding down the raceway of life like Mario Andretti's behind the wheel. Phew! It can be exhausting.
I don't imagine God wants us to run through our lives helter-skelter. I'm certain that our own expectations for our lives are far more unrealistic than God's expectations of us. He is aware of our limits and, if we take the time to ask him, will always provide a breather for us when we need it most.
Maybe it's time to put aside your agenda once in awhile, to call feinites to the world and take a time out.
"The Lord replied, 'My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.'"
May you find feinites in God.
Until next time.
