Word of the Week: Pause
Verse of the week: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” - Psalm 37:7
I heard a story once about a young woodsman who walked into a village seeking someone to challenge him in a tree cutting competition. Everyone turned to the elder of the village, who accepted the challenge.
The following day, the young and older man took their axes to the woods. They began cutting down trees. The young man kept going, going, and going. He laughed to himself when he saw the older man sitting on a stump. This didn’t happen just once, it happened every hour that the young man saw the older man sitting down. He thought to himself, I got this.
As the day came to a close, the young man was confident he won the competition. Yet when all the trees were counted, the older man had cut down more trees. The young man was shocked. He asked the elder from the village, “How did you win? You sat down every hour for a number of minutes?!” The elder replied, “Yes, I did. It was when I was sitting, I was able to sharpen my ax.”
May this story be a reminder as we enter our week, and year, to not just go, go, go, but the value of pausing.
I invite you to join me this week, to set a timer on your to remind yourself to...
pause. breathe. pray.
Lets take time to pause with God to sharpen our “ax;” our hearts and minds each day. May this pause give us what we need to meet our day with greater clarity, efficiency, and whatever else we need for our day.
With love and hope,
Shawn