Stop, Pause and Play

“If your life had a remote control with only 5 buttons would you be inclined to press play, stop, fast forward, rewind, or pause?”

I asked a few friends on Facebook this questions and got a variety of answers. Bottom line, don’t miss this moment.  It’s soon gonna be a memory.  While speaking with a friend on the phone one morning and reminiscing about the past, I said, “Those were the days,” to which she replied, “These are the days too, you know.”  The revealing truth of that statement kinda startled me…because I knew it was right.  I’m not sure whether David learned this as a shepherd, a fugitive, or a King, but he once said, “This is the day that the Lord has made, let’s rejoice and be glad in it.”  Glad in it?  But what about my disappointments, missed deadlines, family issues, health problems?  Well good question. If we’re to be what my Pastor calls “the conduit of compassion and grace” to the ones in “Hard Places,” we would do well to take things a day at a time.  Perhaps thinking of today as a compartment of it’s own.  I was reminded recently how well children are at this. As I spoke to a group of 3rd through 5th graders, (and by the way, I’m not smarter than a fifth grader), I was amazed at their insight and profound questions.  We were discussing a recent disaster, and the loss that many endured, when one little girl said, “Did the kids lose their playgrounds?”  Questions like that make me ask myself, “Stefan, have you lost your playground?”  That place where you can “rejoice and be glad” no matter what the day looks like.  Children live in a world of dreams and imagination, a world of aliveness…living, believing, and ears attune to the wild and free voice inside.  Actually, I think there’s a voice of wonder and amazement inside all of us; but if we’re not reminded daily, wonder may turn to worry and we’ll find ourselves saying, “Those were the days the Lord has made.”  It isn’t that God stopped speaking and left us to fend for ourselves; it’s that our lives became louder – the increasing crescendo of our possessions, the ear-piercing noise of busyness, and the soul-smothering volume of our endless activity drowned out the still, small voice of God.  It happens gradually.

I hope these few words help fortify your faith as we boldly declare that “This, yes even this, is the day that the Lord has made.”