Everyday is about the same. Fast pacing, never ending, exhausting. I wake up every morning before the sun, get dressed, slather my face with makeup, grab my shoes and a bottle of water, and roll into work five minutes late, out of breath. Very exciting stuff. At work, I think about school. At school, I think about friends. When I'm with my friends I think about student organizations, meetings, work, homework, sleep. I never have time to focus on myself, I am consumed with multi-tasking. I get home early in the morning, sleep for a few hours, and do it all over again. I scroll through my phone checking Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, emails, text messages, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, email. My life is busy, my to do lists are over a page long, my work load is heavy.
That's how we all are. We are all consumed with going fast, getting to the next thing. Passing people on the road that are going too slow for us, tapping our foot waiting in line, looking at our watches when the movie doesn't start exactly at 11:30. We rush out of church without saying hello to anyone because we have to beat everyone from the church down the street to our favorite Sunday restaurant. We have places to be, things to do, people to meet. I walk in a restaurant and see families on their phones, distant and distracted from the precious moments they are having together. At the end of the week we are all over worked, stressed out, and exhausted.
But what if we stop, breathe, and look at the beauty around us. What if I slowed down on my way to work and felt the cool air on my face, and watched the sun rise over the buildings. What if we put our phones down at the family table and talk to our loved ones face to face? Would it make a difference? Would we still be stressed, exhausted, and over worked? If we saw the beauty God has allowed us to be in awe of, would it change our perspective on life?
Two years ago, I was in a horrible place. I felt lonely, and I doubted that God cared. But, one night at camp, a few of us hiked to the peak of a mountain and stared at the stars for hours, completely in awe at the presence of God. The stars danced before us, and not once did any of us pull out our phones or talk about our work schedule or our school, in fact, we didn't speak at all. We were still.
"Be Still and know that I am God;"-Psalm 46:10
God tells us to be still. We shouldn't be stressing ourselves out all the time. One of the first things He told the people of Israel is to rest. Rest. Not to be involved in every student organization your school has to offer, not to bring home stacks of work, not to scroll through Facebook at the dinner table—to be still and know that He is God, and we are not. One of the reasons why we are so stressed at the end of the day is because we are trying to be someone we simply are not: God. We try to control our everyday lives and never make time to look up at the stars, the sunset, or the trees.
This past weekend, I went with a few of my friends and watched the sunset on the Belton Lake. As boring as it may seem, it was the exact opposite. We got to witness the new painting God had created. We were able to capture his hands at work. We were still, and we understood the He is God. We didn't talk about work, we didn't mention roommate dramawe were silent, we laughed, and we experienced the beauty away from the chaos of our everyday lives.
Tomorrow, I will wake up to my third alarm before dawn, I will get dressed, put my hair up in a tiny ponytail, grab my shoes and a water bottle, and I will walk a little slower to work, and get there a few more minutes late, not out of breath. At school, I'll try to focus on school, when I'm with friends, I'll laugh with them, and when I'm alone, I will remember the stars and the sunset, I'll hear the rustling of the leaves, and I'll be still and remember that He is God. I'll breathe, I'll get home earlier and rest, and I'll slow down, and maybe next time the sun sets, we won't miss it.
