There is a relationship between slowing down and finding peace. God has been speaking to me about it for years – yes, years … because the truth is, I have been a very slow learner. What a bonus that He is a patient God!
The enforced slowdown courtesy of the pandemic in 2020 should have afforded me a perfect opportunity to get hold of this. The pace of life was forced to slow, but did I find peace?
As I look back on that time, I can see the key lay in identifying exactly what needed to be slowed down.
I slowed my physical pace and the number of activities that crowded my days, but my mind was still racing like a bullet train – hardly a recipe for finding peace, genuine rest – or God. It was my mind that need to get with the programme.
Did this slow learner discover anything to help with a racing mind?
My thought life was in a state of perpetual unrest and desperately needed decluttering. God gave me a yardstick to help me with culling:
“Stick with what will benefit you, or bring you joy”
Remind you of something?
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8
I looked at my life through the lens of Philippians 4:8. I saw what was regularly filling my mind and moved to cull the unnecessary. I tackled my emails, unsubscribing from anything without benefit or joy. I considered my mobile phone, cut notifications to a minimum and deleted needless apps.
But finding mental peace wasn’t just about cutting out the chaos. When we first come to faith in Jesus, we are swept clean which then allows room for the Holy Spirit to come and fill us with Him. In the same way, I found decluttering created room for some better, more positive content.
I wanted to be in the Word more, but didn’t always find this easy – to be honest, it was more of a duty than a joy. Until I started listening to the Bible every day. Given the popularity of podcasts and audio books, this might be a ‘duh’ moment for some of you, but I’m a slow learner, remember? I had always wanted to look forward to my time in the Bible, and now I was. For me, that was a game-changer I didn’t expect but was delighted to discover.
I also found the ‘Pause’ App by John Eldredge, based upon his two books Get Your Life Back and Resilient. It was designed to help listeners slow their minds and pause regularly to spend time with God. I loved how it guided my mind back to Philippians 4:8 – and God.
I was also helped along by the excellent devotional by Sarah Young – Jesus Calling – Enjoying Peace in His Presence. When I applied God’s yardstick of bringing benefit and joy, this book fit richly. Here’s a sample:
Let Me be your positive Focus. When you look to Me, knowing Me as God with you, you experience joy. This is according to my ancient design, when I first crafted man. Modern man seeks his positive focus elsewhere: in sports, sensations, acquiring new possessions. Advertising capitalises on the longing of people for a positive focus in their lives. I planted that longing in human souls, knowing that only I could fully satisfy it.
Do you know that longing?
For me, finding peace or that positive focus in God didn’t mean throwing away my mobile or cutting myself off from the electronic world. Not many of us have the ability to slow the world’s pace or significantly impact much of what is happening within it – but what we do have is the power to choose what we allow into our minds. The timing, the amount, the means, the content – it is up to me to everyday make the choices and to do it using God’s yardstick. I always have the power to stop, be still and listen to the love-letter He has so patiently written to me.
The fruit tastes the sweetest when I choose Him.
God has continued to take me deeper on this journey of slowing down and discovering peace. As I look back now on His perfect timing in everything, I can see His loving hand preparing me, knowing I would need what He was teaching me for the season that was still to come.
His story is constantly unfolding for all of us – and that will be another chapter for me to share with you another time.