Slow Down, Feed Your Spirit

A young child came to her mother one day complaining her stomach was hurting. Knowing the time of day was approaching for a good lunch for an active little girl the mother explained, “Oh honey, your stomach is probably empty. You just need to get something in it and you’ll be fine.” About a week later the little girl overheard the preacher speaking to her mother and mentioning he had a headache. “Oh preacher,” the girl blurted out, “Your head is probably just empty. You just need to get something in it and you’ll be fine.” It takes age and experience to discern life’s lessons and apply them with wisdom. We are living in an age that, it seems, everything is accelerating at an ever greater speed and in our pursuit to “keep up” our spirit is being neglected and becoming angry and belligerent. Our spirit’s are hurting and crying out because their empty. It’s the sign of its starvation on our part for not feeding our spirit with the Word of God. Simply observe all the anger in the world and you’ll find the total lack of reverence for the Creator of everything. The only thing you get to keep in this life is your spirit – feed it!

[Psalm 46:10] “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Notice the comma after “be still.” It means to stop, slow down, chill out. It is pretty obvious that the majority of us have allowed our culture to draw us into living extremely busy lives to the point where it is nearly impossible to focus our attention on what is really important. Consider the following: (1) Studies have shown that when we do two tasks at the same time we take about thirty percent of our attention off the primary task. (2) Whenever two people meet in our society, the odds say that one or the other will mention how busy they are. (3) In 1950 we had on average ten activities to choose from as to what we were going to do next in any given day, while today that number can be over one thousand, depending on the size of your income. Things become even more complicated because most of these activities are either fun or deemed worthy of our time. (4) The culture has convinced us that activity is all that counts and anything else is nothing more than laziness. (5) God created both activity and rest. In fact, He commands both of them (Ecclesiastes 3:9-13; Matthew 11:28-29). So, to live within the bounds of his will requires a balance of both. The Bedouin shepherds live in shabby box tents that dot the hillsides throughout Israel. When compared to our lives saturated with modern conveniences it appears they live a very difficult life. However, an interesting fact is that their average lifespan is more than 100 years. While their diets are made up of natural foods which contain no preservatives, that is not the secret of their longevity. The secret lies in their relatively stress-free lives. Stress makes us sick; drives us crazy; and kills us some three decades before the majority of these shepherds. The Bedouins rise from their tents slightly before sunrise and go about the work of their day. As the sun begins to set they gather as families in their tent for dinner. Then they will typically sit around telling stories and singing. Each evening involves three to four hours of family time. Their work is very physical and tiring but their lives are relatively free from the “noise” of life. They typically go to bed at the same time every night and enjoy deep restful and renewing sleep. As the Bedouins lie down all is quiet as they stare up at the clear star-filled sky. Their minds are able to focus on the majesty of God and that is the last thing on their mind as they fall asleep. Slow down. Revere the God of all things.