Back to School

Pause

At the start of the new school year, we hit the ground running with school work and activities. But from time to time our souls need us to slow down, to take a study break, to rest, to play, to pray. Let this be one of those moments:

“Come away from rush and hurry
to the stillness of God’s peace;
from our vain ambition’s worry,
come to Christ and find release.”

Marva Dawn in “Come Away from Rush and Hurry” (1999)

Listen

Lord, you have done so many things! You made them all so wisely! The earth is full of your creations! And then there’s the sea, wide and deep, with its countless creatures— living things both small and large. There go the ships on it, and Leviathan, which you made, plays in it! All your creations wait for you to give them their food on time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled completely full! But when you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to dust. When you let loose your breath, they are created, and you make the surface of the ground brand-new again.

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I’m still alive.

Psalm 104:24-30, 33

Think

As I looked out across the Grand Canyon, the world seemed to unfold forever. A deep stillness settled in my soul. Compared to the magnificent formation below me, I seemed so insignificant, so very small.

And yet, I felt so full of life. I was connected to the world around me and I was at peace.

There was no work to be done. No schedules. No tests. No deadlines. No practices. No stress. No people to please.

Only wonder.

God created all this and my only “job” was to behold it.

Stepping aside to rest and to take in what God has done puts things into perspective. My value is not found in my work or what I create, but in the One who created me.

And that is worth singing about as long as I live.

Kyle Caudle

Pray

O God,

In my living, let me sing to you.
In my being, let me live for you.
In my resting, let me delight in you.

Amen.

Go

Rest now in God, throughout the hurry of your day

Finding a space to pause, to pray, to play

And in that space of rest and re-creation

Remember:

You are enough

Because Christ is enough

Amen.