Pace Yourself

My life is crazy right now. I'm editing a curriculum, planning the filming of a DVD, and trying to do all the other normal stuff of life. Oh yeah, and the holidays are coming. It's awfully easy to get overwhelmed to the point of tears. Not that my little over-achiever self ever does that, I'm just saying...

Yesterday during a mild crisis my son reminded me of our trek up the mountain this weekend. My big, strong, 16 year old boy was in the lead and I was trying desperately to keep his pace. Only it wasn't working. My heart rate must have been over 200, I was gasping for air and staggering from lack of oxygen. I kept saying, "Slow down, I can't keep up this pace." Every few yards found me leaning on a tree, sitting on a rock, or trying desperately to catch my breath. His pace wasn't working for me, but I kept trying to climb at his pace anyway.

Isn't that a lot like life? We try to keep pace with everyone around us without taking into account our differences, our weaknesses, our gifts and callings, or our stage of life. But God has a unique pace for each of us to run our race. It's a pace that is meant just for us, one the keeps us healthy and happy, not stressed and overloaded.

What do we do, though, when we feel overwhelmed and out of sync with our pace. We do what I did on my mountain climb.

Stop- Cease action. Take a moment or a day or a week to regroup. I did this recently and guess what. The world didn't stop spinning and everybody survived without my input for a day or two.

Breathe- It's God that gives us the breath of life. When life is too hectic we need to breathe deeply of God and make sure that we are spending time inhaling his life giving presence.

Lean- We need to lean on the Lord, not our own strength. It's time to acknowlege our great need for Him and trust Him to support us and strengthen us.

Sit on the rock- You've heard of standing on the rock. How about sitting on our rock? Jesus is our rock and we need to make sure that we are standing/sitting on His promises, keeping the word of God strong in our hearts, minds, and lives.

Rest- Give all of our troubles and trials to God and rest in Him. Even in the middle of a long uphill climb we need times of rest and refreshing. Just when we think we've turned all of our troubles over to God, another set crops us. We need to be vigilent to pray and not worry, resting in God's tender care.

Slow down- God is never frantic or hectic and we don't have to be either. It's okay to say "no". It's okay to say, "not right now". It's okay to slow down for no other reason than "we" need to for our own health and sanity. Life is a marathon, not a sprint.

Move at your own pace- It's not about what everyone else is doing or even what everyone else wants us to do. It's about moving at a healthy, God-given pace. We don't have the anointing to move at someone else's pace, but we surely have the anointing to move at the pace God sets for us individually.

When I was in school I was terrible at running races because I can't sprint to save my soul. Yet, I could run longer distances that required a steady pace, not a race horse stride. I believe that physical element transfers to other areas of my life. I'm not a race horse, even though I'd like to be. But I can go the distance. That's how God made me.

Today let's remember to pace ourselves and to enjoy this life God has given us. Let's receive his easy yoke and light burden rather than running at the world's rat race pace.