By Chris WittsTuesday 24 Jan 2023Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
My wife and I were getting ready for a holiday with a pre-arranged, pre booked cruise and an air travel to Canada. We’ve never been to that part of the world. This seemed to be a good plan, included one week’s holiday in New York. The accommodation was fully booked, and then you guessed it. Along came Covid 19, and all these plans had to be cancelled. It was disappointing. Nothing could be done about it. I was looking forward to our seven days in New York, the city. They say that it never sleeps – 8.5 million people living in New York City. And the amazing feature I was looking forward to was Central Park. Maybe you’ve been there and seen it for yourself.
And the city planners back in the 18 hundreds set aside this amazing 800-acre parcel of land in great foresight. Today, of course, there are many skyscrapers surrounding this beautiful park, 9000 park benches to sit on, an amusement park and even a zoo. Everyone needs a place like New York Central Park, a place to come, unwind and relax.
Can you imagine living in New York, not having such a place to get away and restore yourself to find moments of beauty, quiet and solitude. Do you have somewhere to go like that? We all need a place of refreshment in the midst of a busy world. You can feel as if you’re constantly on the go, making it hard to become friends with your own inner thoughts and feelings, because you don’t have time. The current research in psychology has shown that the nonstop grind takes a negative toll on our body and mind, and we end up performing worse as a result.
Now be aware the more rested and relaxed you are, the less worries you have in life. The more frequently you take time out to recharge, you feel better within yourself, the more you’re going to invite the good and positive experiences into your life. But unfortunately, life does seem to be speeding up, becoming busier. We feel we’ve got to achieve more, and there’s the outside influences bombarding us, telling us who we should be, what we should be doing, how you should do it. The months just seem to disappear before you know it. Another new year has begun.
So this business of taking time out, it has an overall positive effect on you and your lifestyle, your health, your emotional well-being and the very way that you perceive people and experiences. Find some time, even if it’s just 15 minutes before going to bed, sit with a pen and paper and draw a line down the centre of the page and add the headings: things I can control and then things I can’t control. Write down a list of the things that you’re worrying about under each heading. Spending some time away from social media also will help the distractions of the digital world become all consuming. Sometimes we do need to focus our energy on what truly matters.
A common complaint today is I have got too much to do, not enough time to do it. Well, Christianity has a lot to say about stopping and reflecting on your Father God, who says there is more to life than just being busy. It’s important to find faith in God. It does make a difference to believe in God – Jesus said one day, look at the lilies of the field. They don’t toil and spin. And yet Solomon, in all his glory, was not robed as well as they are. And if God provides clothing for the flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, don’t you suppose that he will provide clothing for you? That’s in Luke Chapter 12.
There’s nothing better than taking a moment to stop to reflect on God’s love and goodness towards you, especially when you feel stress and then offer a prayer, asking him to strengthen you to help you through that situation that will help lead you into a position of trust and calm. And God can do that for you. If you want to live as a committed Christian, you’ll want to be serious about meditation and prayer. Now that means stopping from your normal routine, being quiet in his presence, and I’m sure he finds it hard to speak to us if we’re too busy. But if we’re quiet before him, he can help us understand more about ourselves and how to actually live. He can speak to us through the Bible and that quiet conviction that grows in our heart as we pray.
It’s true that he puts thoughts into our minds. He brings a conviction about our own lives. Now that’s God’s holy Spirit speaking, and we should learn to listen and obey. Proverbs 3:5-6 in the Old Testament says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And don’t lean on your own understanding, but in all your ways. Acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”
Let’s Pray
Lord, now there’s a lesson I need to take to heart today, taking time to reflect, to be quiet, to value the quietness. Give me the time today, Lord, and I know as a result I will be a better person. Amen.