A grandfather remarked that, after having memorable fun with his grandson and two of his friends, the grandson wanted to spend yet another day doing even more, to the point that it became impractical. The grandfather had to gently draw the line.
We can all be motion and emotion junkies, looking for ways to avoid being still.
Still might bring discovery. For adults, with much of our road already traveled, discovery might transport us back to pain or regret or lack of forgiveness. For children, discovery is new and sometimes unstable; too much of their road is yet to be traveled and can look scary and unpredictable.
Still, God expects no less. In Psalm 46, he reminds us:
"Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your high God...above everything."The traffic of relationships keeps us emotionally moving, occupied, busy. Minus people we can traffic in an endless array of motion through electronic entertainment. I get up in the wee hours of the morning to find still and, in the blink of an eye, become distracted by just a quick look at Facebook, or just one entertaining magazine article.
I suspect the enemy of God, in his strategic planning, knows our tendency to become motion and emotion junkies. He sees our disturbed souls when we are without intentional still and encourages our pull away from it.
The only way to step out of traffic is to decide for ourselves and our family that we will, in fact, do it. Schedule it, stick to it, fail and try once again, over and over, until the attractiveness and comfort of still becomes ingrained into our day.
Moms, dads, grandparents--all adults, in fact--model still or, sadly, a lack thereof. Children remember when they see still modeled as an important part of an adult day. Their tender souls want what they see, but they need boundaries and strong parenting to step into it for themselves.
Step out of traffic.
Step into still.
That long, loving look at God will change everything.
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