Press pause

Asuefai Harcourt, 19th Apr 2021
Tags: Life Blog Anxiety Mental health Stress

To be honest, this was a hard lesson, and it still is.

“If you don’t stop willingly, you’ll be forced to. Either way we all stop”

Those words resonate in my mind on a regular, and they force me to hit break more than I would like to. But I can’t deny that I have found it's very necessary and helpful. 

Let’s try this analogy. You can now drive and you and a couple of your friends plan a road trip to a nice place. The car was supposed to be filled up with gas the day before and everyone assumed that it was. 

You get on the road and halfway through the journey it’s brought to your attention that you’re running out of gas. You are just about to pass a gas station on the way, but you don’t want to stop because there’s a bit of a line and this might delay your arrival time. There’s a possibility that the gas you still have can take you to your destination, but it’s not 100%.

The thing is, if you choose to stop and get gas, you’ll definitely reach your destination; but if you don’t, the car will stop you at some point in your journey, no matter how dangerous that would be.  

All in all, stopping is inevitable, because whether the car is out of gas or you choose to stop it yourself to get gas, it will stop.

Now it’s the same thing with your life and God. He fuels you for this journey called life, but it is necessary that we press pause sometimes and go back to him to be filled up. 

If we don’t, we will allow ourselves to start running on fumes. We would have let go of the control God has given us over the results of our actions, and we make room for chance.

Do not let life humble you.

“Do not let life humble you by forcing you to end your journey before you were meant to all because you were too stubborn to listen.”

Be attentive, when God hints at it being time for a break, take it. We all need a break at some point or the other, and even the Bible hints at this.

“And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” Mark 6:31 in the Bible.

Even Jesus the son of God who did all the creating, and has more power and stamina in him than any one we can ever meet rested. There was even a time when he went sailing with his disciples and they got caught in a storm, but he rested.

“And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.” Matthew 8:24.

So whilst you still can rest, do not let life force you into a complete halt. You’ve still got the time to finish.