Assessment Bay 10

Well, as some of you may know I spent just over 3 hours in A&E last night...

I'm fine, praise God. Well, I will be! And I'm certainly heaps better than I was last night. Praise God for taking away the pain!

And praise Him for friends! I've been very well prayed for and looked after. Some (ok, most!) have used this as yet another opportunity to tell me I need to slow down. I don't know what was wrong with me last night, nobody seems to know what it was or what caused it. I'm inclined to think it's not that I've been doing too much - partly coz I'm just plain stubborn! - but partly coz I haven't been as busy lately as I have previously...but maybe that's just the stubborn part of me looking for an excuse to keep hurtling along at a silly speed.

What I DO know is that God was totally with me last night and took away the pain. I know that I don't need to know what it is - that He does and is in control. I'm also starting to REALLY know that I DO need to slow down...

This, the 'Word for Today' reading from yesterday (which I read today!), really challenged me.

"If you are serious about pursuing a deeper relationship with God you will constantly battle with - hurry. The great danger is not that we will renounce our faith, but that we will become so distracted by lesser things that we will settle for a mediocre version of it. Nobody was more in demand than Jesus, yet He regularly withdrew from activity for the sake of solitude and prayer. He was busy, but never stressed out and He taught His disciples that too. Listen: ' The apostles then rendezvoused with Jesus and reported on all that they had done and taught. Jesus said, "Come off by yourselves; let's take a break and get a little rest." For there was coming and going, they didn't even have time to eat.' (Mark 6:30-31, The Message). Sound familiar? It is because hurry kills love that it's the great enemy of your soul. Hurry lies behind much of our anger. It prevents us from receiving love from the Father and giving it to those who need it. That is why Jesus never hurried.

The truh is, as much as we complain about it, we are drawn to hurry. It makes us feel important. It keeps the adrenaline pumping. It means we do not have to look too closely at our hearts. It keeps us from feeling our loneliness. So what is the cure? Solitude! After spending 40 days alone on a mountain with God, Moses returned to the people with a) clear direction, b) new strength, c) the assurance that God was with him. Are you feeling drained? 'There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.' (Hebrews 4:9) "

Hmmmm.....