It had been a full time of working in West Africa when we arrived at the airport for our flight home. Standing at the entrance in a state of slightly panicked prayer, we watched our phones, waiting for our health tests to hit the screen. I didn’t want help to pause. I wanted my results!
I Don’t Want Help to Pause
With minutes to spare, our test results arrived and we rushed inside through the obstacle course of the unfamiliar airport. My mind was overworked with all we had learned, and my heart was overflowing with all we had experienced. No time to stop and ponder. It had already been a long day, and we had 38 hours of travel ahead of us. The announcements in French sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher to my brain. I was so tired I wasn’t sure if I was sweating or drooling. It didn’t matter by the time we found two empty seats together in the waiting area to eat a bag of trail mix.
“I can do this, I can do this,” I said to myself.
When it was time to walk on the plane, I had a plan. Stay awake for the quirky 1 ½ hour flight to stop #1 where we thought we would stay on the plane, and then wrap up in my dirty scarf, prop my head up on my backpack, and take a five-hour power nap.
“I can do this, I can do this,” I said to myself.
God Knows When We Need Help to Pause
“Bonsoir,” the not-drooling flight attendant said as I walked through the doors of the plane. She looked at our boarding passes and directed us to take separate sides. In only a few rows, Jeff and I stopped to double-check our seat numbers. Were we delirious? Did we have malaria? Our eyes met as we broke into a smile. God had moved us up from Economy to Business Class! With no cost to us, our Heavenly Father moved us to seats that fully reclined with extra space and actual meals. Jeff and I laughed as we looked around at where God put us.
“I can do this. I can do this,” God said to me.
For the first quirky flight, I just laid down and smiled. I didn’t even have to wrap up in my dirty scarf, because God put us in a row where they gave us a clean blanket and an actual pillow. I practiced stretching my toes as far as I could, wondering when the non-drooling flight attendant would come by and say, “Au revoir.” (That means “goodbye” in case you didn’t take high school French like I did.) But she didn’t. She just walked by and smiled and brought me tea. I started to feel myself taking deep breaths that started in my stretching toes. I lay quietly and still and almost began to ponder. Was God giving me help to pause?
“I can do this. I can do this,” God said to me.
And then we landed. But the captain said, “Please stay in your seats. Do not move your luggage. We will receive new passengers and continue our journey. Please stay seated.” It’s not long enough to do anything or go anywhere. Just pause and ponder.
(Here, I admit – I got up to use the restroom. Partly, because Jeff went and came back to tell me it was like a yoga studio in there! And it was. I even used the hand lotion. But then I went back to my seat. No one had to tell me a second time to stay in that seat!)
Pausing Has a Purpose
I reclined and I laid there, still and quiet. I closed my eyes and wrapped up in my free blanket with my head resting on the soft pillow. And as I did, I started to ponder all we learned and all we experienced. With each breath in and out, God helped me soak in and appreciate it. I lay there in wonder until I picked up my phone to make notes of thoughts I knew were arriving in the quiet.
By the time we took off and I had a fresh cup of tea, my whole self was still. I wrapped up in the blue blanket and God put me to sleep right there in Business Class. For a long time. Most of the flight. I don’t think I drooled, but I know I rested deeply, just what I needed.
And as I drifted off, I realized, God knew where I needed to be. It wasn’t because of anything I did to deserve a turn in Row 6 more than people who stayed in Economy. It was because of His tender affectionate care for us. It was because of his providential gift-giving. He gave me a place to rest deeply and be restored. He gave me a place to quiet myself to pause and ponder what He had done and where we had been. He gave me a place to hear what He wanted me to hear before the flight took me back to a different place and time. He made me still and quiet long enough to listen to what He wanted me to hear.
How to Receive God’s Help to Pause
What if, when we find ourselves in a momentary or lengthy pause, we stopped struggling to get out of it and past it? What if we receive the pauses God plans, instead of pushing past them?
- What if in the noise, we become quiet?
- What if in the hurry, we slow down?
- What if in the overwhelm, we focus?
- What if in the fatigue, we rest?
- What if in the changes, we trust?
What does Row 6 look like for you?
Yes, “Be still and know that I am God,” (Psalm 46:10) my Heavenly Father says.
Or as the New English Translation says, “Stop your striving and recognize that I am God. I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!”
“I can do this. I can do this,” God said to me.
It’s so easy for me to struggle and strive to be productive, to solve problems, and to press through hard things. Can you relate? Those aren’t bad things, but they aren’t the main things. I know I’ll go back to Economy again, but this time, God put me in Row 6 for my own good, to give me help to pause. God puts us where He wants us to do what matters most to Him.
- Has there been a time when God slowed you down? What did He want you to hear?
- If you stay still in a place of rest and restoration, what would God have you ponder?
