New Year: Just Stop

By Devin Dummel

If you were asked to describe how things were going so far in this New Year, I wonder how many of us would reply with some of the following words:  busy, rushed, empty, stressed, worn-out, overloaded.  Too many of us, say yes to everything, believing we will able to check everything off our lists.  Sadly, when we take a moment to come up for air, we discover just how tired and exhausted we have been all along.

Maybe you haven’t even got a chance to take a break yet, maybe you discovered just how busy you are because you over-reacted to a simple situation and you wondered, “Where in the world did that reaction come from?”  The reality is when we are worn-out we don’t have anything extra in the tank.  When we are busy and tired our emotional reserves are running on fumes.

The truth is if you want this year to be any different than the past years, then you are going to have to do something different.  You are going to have to develop a new way to navigate a world where we believe that “busy” is something to strive for.  And if you’ve bought into that lie, that being busy means that you are doing something right, then what I’m going to suggest for you to do, will come as quite a shock.

If you feel like you are running on fumes, barely making it, and desperate for a break for the break-neck pace of life you live, here is what I want you to do ….

JUST STOP

That’s right, you read that correctly.  If you want to get recharged, if you want to get refueled, then you my friend will have to discover how to STOP.

Think about it this way, when you are getting low on fuel in your car, what is the first thing you have to do?  It seems silly to even mention it, but if you want to refuel, the first thing you have to do is stop.  You have to take time to pull up to a service station, and put your vehicle in park, and let it do it’s thing.

In the same sense, you need to stop and refuel every day.  It could be five minutes before a meeting, two minutes in the car before you drive away, or thirty seconds at your desk at the end of the day.  Whatever it is, you need to create margins in your life to find some rest.

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.”  When was the last time you were still?  If you are wondering why you feel run down and worn-out, my guess is it’s because you haven’t been still in a while.  So I challenge you, find a few minutes every day to be still before God.

Stop saying yes to everything, stop filling up your tank with trivial and meaningless things.  Quit overloading your life and eliminating all of the margin you have.  But Stop so you can refuel your sound and have the spiritual depth to handle everything that comes with the life that God has given you.