2021-03-11
Psalm 29:11 NIV
Increasing our pace often decreases our peace. There have been loads of inventions through the years that have promised to save time and effort on all kinds of tasks. We can go online and find any number of time-saving life hacks. But often the reality is that we don’t gain more free time, we just end up living life at a faster pace. And as our productivity increases, our peace and quality of life can feel like it’s decreasing.
Think about your phone – there’s probably a few different apps on there to help you keep in touch with people. It’s great to be able to connect with others in so many ways, but the downside is that we need to keep an eye on several apps at once. We can message people instantly, which makes things really convenient and helps us stay connected even when we can’t physically be together. But it encourages us to become impatient when someone doesn’t reply to us straight away, and others might expect an instant response from us. And that expectation can lead us into multitasking – we might answer emails while we’re in a meeting, message a friend while we’re eating lunch, and so on. Instead of reducing the busyness in our lives, we end up doing two or three things at once.
So where can we go to slow down and be assured of rest and peace? To Jesus, whose name is ‘Prince of Peace’. Today He’s saying to us: ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world give. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid’ (John 14:27 NIV).
1 Thes 1-5; Matt 22:15-22; Ps 135; Prov 7:21-23
Psalm 29:11 NIV
Increasing our pace, has decreased our peace. There’s an old joke about a stressed-out personal assistant who told her boss, “When this rush is over, I’m going to have a nervous breakdown. I’ve earned it, I deserve it, and nobody’s going to take it from me!” We smile, but chances are you can relate.
Not long ago we marked the passing of time in seasons. But seasons begat monthly calendars, which begat day-timers, which begat one-minute managers, which begat handheld personal organizers. And what does it all lead to? As our productivity goes up, our quality of life seems to go down.
An article in USA Today describes how therapist Ofer Zur staged a conference called “Speed.com: The Search for Meaning in the New Millennium.” And guess where he staged it? In the heart of stressed-out Silicon Valley, California! As the attendees gathered, Zur noted the drawn faces, worried looks, and preoccupied demeanor of his audience. He said his personal alarm sounded when he noted they had brought cell phones and laptops – and began using them during the session. Here’s what he said about it: “We’ve become obsessed with speed. We end up with lots of plans that we can’t execute and a full schedule that can’t be followed. The paradox of our timesaving tech gadgets is that we’ve wound up with no free time.”
Sound familiar? So where can you go to find peace? To the One whose name is “Prince of Peace.” Today He’s saying to you: “If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea” (Isaiah 48:18 NIV).
Soul food: 1 Thes 1-5; Matt 22:15-22; Ps 135; Prov 7:21-23
Psalm 29:11 NLV
Met die dat ons ons pas verhoog het, het ons ons vrede verlaag. Daar is ‘n ou grap van ‘n gespanne persoonlike assistent wat vir haar baas gesê het: ‘Wanneer hierdie stormloop verby is, gaan ek ‘n senu-ineenstoring hê. Ek het dit verdien en niemand gaan dit van my af wegneem nie!’ Ons glimlag, maar die kans is goed dat jy daarby aanklank kan vind.
Nie lank gelede nie het ons die verloop van tyd in seisoene gemeet. Seisoene het egter in maandelikse kalenders verander, wat in dagbeplanners verander het en vandag sit ons met elektroniese persoonlike organiseerders in ons hande. Waartoe lei dit alles? Soos ons produktiwiteit toeneem, lyk dit of ons lewenskwaliteit afneem.
‘n Artikel in USA Today beskryf hoe die terapeut Ofer Zur ‘n konferensie getiteld: ‘Speed.com: The Search for Meaning in the New Millennium,’ aangebied het. Soos die konferensiegangers begin instroom het, het Zur die fronsende gesigte en bekommerde kyke van sy gehoor begin oplet. Hy sê dat hy bekommerd begin raak het toe hy sien dat hulle selfone en skootrekenaars saamgebring het – wat hulle van plan was om tydens die konferensie te gebruik. Hier is wat hy daaroor te sê gehad het: ‘Ons het obsessief oor spoed geraak. Ons eindig op met baie planne wat ons nie kan uitvoer nie en ‘n vol skedule wat ons nie kan volg nie. Die paradoks van ons tegnologiese toestelle wat ons tyd moet bespaar, is dat ons met geen vrye tyd opgeëindig het nie.’
Klink dit bekend? Waar kan jy dus gaan om vrede te kry? Na die Een wie se naam die ‘Prins van Vrede’ is. Vandag sê Hy vir jou: ‘As jy maar net na my gebooie geluister het! Dan sou jou vrede soos ‘n rivier gewees het, en jou geregtigheid soos die golwe van die see’ (Jesaja 48:18 NLV).
Sielskos: 1 Tess 1-5; Matt 22:15-22; Ps 135; Spr 7:21-23
2021-03-10
Galatians 6:9 NIV
God has so many blessings and plans for us, but there’s a time for them all. We’re not going to get them immediately, when we want them. In Ecclesiastes we’re told that ‘there is a time for everything’ (3:1 NIV).
God made people wait many times throughout the Bible. Abraham and Sarah had to wait for a son, Joseph had to go through many bad situations before it was the right time to be given authority in Egypt, Jesus had to wait 30 years to begin His ministry, Simeon was waiting for God’s salvation, and those who had been exiled by the Babylonians were waiting for freedom. For many of these people, the wait wasn’t a few weeks or months, it was years and years. For the exiles, it was 70 years. In Jeremiah 29, we read: ‘This is what the Lord says: “Babylon will be powerful for seventy years. After that time I will come to you, and I will keep my promise to bring you back to Jerusalem”‘ (v.10 NCV).
Often we want God to act and change our situations, to bring good times, immediately, and when He doesn’t, we’re tempted to give up. But God’s timing is better than ours. He knows when it’s the right time to bring change and blessing. Psalm 102 also shows us that God had an appointed time for the exiles: ‘You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favour to her; the appointed time has come.’ God’s got an appointed time to come through for us too.
Waiting can be hard, especially if we’ve been waiting a really long time. We can end up getting frustrated and disappointed, we might even be tempted to think that God’s forgotten and abandoned us. But while we’re waiting for this appointed time, He’s working.
Gen 50; Haggai 1-2; Matt 22:1-14; Ps 27; Prov 7:10-20
Galatians 6:9 NIV
There’s no such thing as instant success, with either people or problems. Whether you need to lose ten pounds or one hundred pounds, the weight can only be shed one pound at a time. Standing on top of the mountain is a thrill, but you can only get up there one step at a time. Nothing great is created suddenly; almost every significant success in life comes at the end of a long, arduous wait. And unless you accept that truth, you’ll give up too soon and settle far short of the success God has in mind for you.
Jell-O celebrated its one-hundredth anniversary in 1997, but if the inventor were still alive, he would probably take little comfort in his product’s success. In 1897 Pearl Wait wore many hats. He was a construction worker who also experimented in patent medicines, and he went door to door selling his therapies. In the midst of tinkering and experimenting, he hit upon the idea of mixing fruit flavouring with granulated gelatin. His wife promptly named it Jell-O, and Wait had one more product to peddle. Unfortunately, the initial sales of his jiggly snack were not as strong as he hoped, so he ended up selling his Jell-O rights to Orator Woodward for the paltry sum of $450. Woodward was a savvy businessman. He knew the value of marketing, and within eight years he turned a $450 investment into a million-dollar business. Today, not a single relative of Pearl Wait receives one penny from the one-million-plus boxes of Jell-O sold every day. Why not? Because Wait couldn’t wait!
Soul food: Gen 50; Haggai 1-2; Matt 22:1-14; Ps 27; Prov 7:10-20
