INTRODUCTION
You are in control of your life. There are many influences that affect you both from inside of you and from outside of you, but you are in charge of your life. You hold the controls of your life. No one else does. What are you doing with the control you have? Some of us give that control to others. Some of us white knuckle that control. Others of us drop the controller, throw our hands up and trust “fate.” All of those are choices. We get to choose what we do with the life God has given us. We are in a five-week series where we are using the metaphor of gaming to help us be better Gamers so that we can fulfill our mission to love God and to love people.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Everything in our world seems to be about efficiency, productivity, and eliminating waste so that we can get stuff done. That urgency puts the clear pressure on us to constantly learn from any inefficiencies and then make immediate modifications so we can do better. You should run faster and you should do more! This is not sustainable, unhealthy, and not at all godly. God wants us to trust Him and a big part of that is trusting the pace He modeled for us and asks us to mimic. God paused. Nature pauses. We don’t. How does this concept of pause initially hit you? Some can experience twinges of anxiety when considering adding yet another thing, even if that thing is a pause.
If you currently take time to pause what does it entail?
Do you regularly take pauses?
How do pauses affect you?
When done correctly a pause is our intentional inactivity to open ourselves to the activity of God. During our pauses God will work on our behalf in our areas of concern and He will also do an internal work in us. What might be a reason that God wants you to start (or increase) pauses in your life?
What is a specific way (when and where) that you can start taking time to pause?
You know yourself. Are you willing to consider prioritizing the time to pause?
What accountability do you need to establish so that you will take the step(s) you need to take regarding pauses?
MOVING FORWARD
Taking a pause can be hard work. It can feel reckless, irresponsible, foolish, and totally counterproductive. It can also reveal if our trust is in God, others, or our own efforts. Taking a pause is an act of faith in God and a courageous choice to depend upon Him while we are idle. This can be a very difficult discipline to add to our lives. For most of us we need to start very small. Like any new habit we need to prioritize it and sustain it over time. There is a law of harvest that is irrevocable. Trusting God in greater ways, including the addition (or expansion) of pauses, will yield a harvest. Not doing so will also yield a harvest. That harvest will not necessarily be bad, but doing things God’s way will also yield the best possible harvest. Remember, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Let’s learn from Ferris.