My pastor said the following statement in church a few weeks ago: “Sometimes, we need to slow our lives down enough to allow the Lord to catch us.” A simple statement, but quite abstract. What does it look like to slow down our lives? Immediately, when I heard those word come out of my pastor’s mouth, a picture came to mind of a physical example of this spiritual reality. I saw the United States Space Shuttle. Let me explain.
The Space Shuttle was a marvel of human engineering. It was designed in the sixties and seventies to be the successor of the Apollo Space program as the primary means of transporting people and items into space. It was built to be semi-reusable, which decreased the overall cost of each flight. As a result, NASA would use one of the five Space Shuttles over 130 times from the early 80’s until 2011 to transport satellites, machinery and pieces of the International Space Station. Getting the items into space was the first hurdle. Getting the re-usable Space Shuttle back on planet Earth was the second.
While in orbit, the Space Shuttle was traveling at over 17,000 mph. At that speed, you could go from NYC to Fredericksburg, VA in about one minute. Yet, when preparing for re-entry, one of the first things the astronauts needed to do was slow the shuttle down. They turned on the thrusters, decreasing the speed of the shuttle, and fell into earth’s atmosphere, beginning the next phase of their decent before landing on solid ground.
We can often be like the Space Shuttle. We find ourselves orbiting around God, moving from task to task in an environment that is dangerous and lifeless. The only solution is to slow down in order to encounter His atmosphere and His world. It is no wonder God invites us to slow down as shown in Psalm 46:10: “He [God] says, Be still and know that I am God.” When we quiet ourselves, it opens the opportunity to know more of who God is.
To practice this, I have set two alarms for each weekday, one at 10am and the other at 2pm. I’ve called these alarms “mini vacations” and where-ever I am, I take 10, 20, 40 seconds or whatever time I have to quiet myself and focus on God. Sometimes, I spend the time thanking him, other times I ask for wisdom, and even other times I tell him how I feel. Each mini vacation looks different and somedays are easier than others, but I always leave that time feeling connected to the One who gives me life.
Think about your life. Are you moving too fast, preoccupied with all of life’s demands? Do you feel overwhelmed? What is one thing you can do today to slow down and be with God? Maybe you want to set an alarm on your phone, wake up 5 minutes earlier or sit in your car for an extra minute when you arrive at work. Whenever it is, set aside a few minutes each day to sit still and encounter the atmosphere of God’s world.
Be blessed.
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