Just push pause

Have you ever reached a point in your life, where you just knew you just could not add one more thing to your never-ending to-do list?   I’ve reached that point many times in the past where I couldn’t do more, think more, give more, take more. I needed to pause.

Sometimes we choose to pause. To breathe, to reflect, to refresh. But it seems to me that what quite often ends up happening is that we are forced ~ by circumstances outside of our control ~ to pause. Most times it happens right when you’re in the middle of something.

Most of us prefer to be at the beginning of a new adventure, when our excitement and adrenaline are at their highest. Or rounding the corner to see the finish line with that sense of gratifying accomplishment. It’s the moment we wait for. At the finish we know that the sweat, the mind games, the times we thought it would never happen were well worth it.

Being in the middle is not fun. Not many want to go there.

The middle is the part most us don’t want to talk about. It’s not glamorous. It’s hard.
The middle is the reason most don’t finish.
But the middle is the secret to the joy that seems to elude us.
 
Sometimes life can feel like one long middle, one monotone list of never-ending sameness. Sometimes knowing exactly where you are on your journey helps. It’s not that you’re in the wrong place, it’s just called the middle and it might not be what you thought you would be. But you’re right where God wants you to be.

In Romans 5:3-5 {New International Version (NIV)} we are reminded “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us”.

How about you? What does it take to make you pause, stop, breathe, rest, live.

Blessings