PAUSING AT THIS TIME? By Rayola Kelley

We are entering that time of the year when life gets a bit crazy. I don’t know about you, but my life is never at a standstill. It is like a running stream at times and a rushing river at other times. There are periods I can rest a bit when I hit a slow-moving current, but there are those moments I find myself on rapids flying quickly past the happenings of life. Therefore, I can’t imagine people being bored, lazy, or simply idling away because they are not moving forward. Sadly, in some cases, there is no reverse for such individuals to shift gears as to moving in any real direction.

I guess one of the reasons I am like this is because my mother never allowed her children to sit around if she was busy or there was something that needed to be done. We couldn’t overlook any deed that obviously required our attention. Through the years of trying to make my time count, I have developed a keener thankfulness that my parents instilled in me certain beneficial attitudes towards my responsibilities to see something through (Ecclesiastes 9:10)).

When I became a Christian, the Lord showed me what He thought of laziness (slothfulness) and being bored. Being slothful just proves one has no worthwhile vision or sense of responsibility, and being bored points to great ingratitude (Psalms 100:4; Proverbs 18:9; Colossians 3:15). There is no initiative in the slothful and no real appreciation of what something may cost others to those who are bored. In most cases they want to be entertained and then lulled into sleep that makes them indifferent to the reality around them. In a sense, they are trying to be directors of what goes on in their world to control their reality to avoid the reality of life.

I admit that, like most young people, as a teenager I tried to figure ways around doing my part, but my mother would not let me simply get by with a wasteful exercise of mentally conniving a way to manipulate a matter in my favor. I later learned that such points of manipulation were wicked games that I needed to hate in order to avoid them to ensure integrity in my attitude and conduct (Psalm 119:104, 128).

I am so thankful for God’s wise instructions that keep me from playing destructive games to manipulate others so I can avoid being responsible. When we try to control others against their will, it is because we are being rebellious towards what is right. This is considered the practice of witchcraft which is the evidence of the spirit of the world working disobedience in those who want life on their terms (1 Samuel 15:22-23; Ephesians 2:2).

I realize even when it came to my mental exertion to find some way around responsibility, I was convinced that in due time I would get caught when it came to rebellious or lazy ways (Numbers 32:23). At the end of my conclusion I figured I might as well do “whatsoever” so I could do what I wanted to do in peace. I can’t tell you how many times I stayed up on Friday, way into the early morning hours cleaning house, so I could have the privilege of sleeping in on Saturday morning with no looming responsibility waiting for me.

I am thankful my parents established some ethical practices but the work ethic I now have, I had to grow into, especially as a Christian. I had to discipline myself as to my time, while setting practical but honorable goals that required me to push past my limitations to accomplish my objective. As a writer, you can never finish a book unless you are disciplined to see it all the way through to the end. I learned that being practical in what I could do, while striving to do more, kept me from throwing up my hands and declaring that it is too much, too great, or impossible for me to do.

One of the disciplines I am also thankful for in my Christian life is the cross. The cross of Christ starts as a message of salvation for the hopeless, but then to the born-again believer it becomes the symbol of what it means to crucify the old to walk in the new. One’s personal cross is a point of truly becoming identified as a true disciple of Jesus.

The cross reminds us there is a cost to pay if one is truly going to follow Jesus into a new way, a new life, and a heavenly future. However, it is important to keep in perspective that the cost of the old, perverted, dying, decaying ways of the old self in lieu of heavenly glory is nothing but dung compared to heavenly glory (Matthew 16:24-27; Luke 9:56-62; 14:25-33; John 12:23-25; Romans 6:3-14; Galatians 6:14; Philippians 3:7-14).

Even though the discipline through the years has been challenging and wearisome at times, I discovered that if God calls you to do something He will equip you to do it (Philippians 1:6). He will inspire you to take on the challenge and then strengthen you to finish it. I am personally thankful for the discipline that the Lord has established in my life. It is His way of lining us up to righteousness.

These disciplines were established between two pillars. The first one represents a challenge, “I dare you.” This pillar established me in my faith walk (2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith is about daring the nominal of how things are, the conventional ways things should be, and the acceptable way it must be to appear to fit into the world. It faces the darkness and begins to walk into it, while trusting the Lord to prepare the path and keep the feet from slipping. I am thankful for this pillar because I have discovered the faithfulness of God (Psalms 40:10; 119:90; Isaiah 49:7; 2 Timothy 2:11-13).

The second pillar has to do with completing the task before me. It is not enough to dare self if there is no conviction to finish the course set before you (Psalm 16:8; 57:7). Many Christians start out with fleshly zeal that makes them feel infallible in their new spiritual quests. I understand such zeal because that is how I started in my Christian walk. But zeal wanes in due time and if there is no conviction to see a matter through, you will never finish the course (Romans 10:2-4; 2 Timothy 4:7).

The second pillar represents the truth of a matter. The truth is that man does not have it in him to reach great heights unless he learns to rest on the Rock of Jesus. Jesus is His strength to stand in the storms. It is as we put our arms out by faith towards our God to embrace the challenges that loom before us that the Holy Spirit can lift us above the storms to give us a heavenly perspective. This perspective allows us to soar above limited understanding to grow in faith and hope. For me it has caused gratitude to also take flight as I began to see the many blessings of God being bestowed on His children because of His unending grace (2 Samuel 22:2-4; John 1:16;1 Corinthians 10:1-6; Ephesians 2:6-7).

I am a bit dyslexic. It was never so bad that it was obvious, but it was enough that I still tied my shoelaces backwards and complicated simple matters or turned things around when I embarked on doing something new. I am occasionally reminded that I have this problem to avoid becoming pigheaded about demanding something be done backwards in a project because that is how I often see things, especially when it comes to technical matters.

Being dyslexic has presented me with some frustration and challenges. Since I never realized I had the problem until a few years ago I always felt I was behind in ability or intelligence. I knew I was not dumb, but for some reason I had a blockage that would cause mass confusion, especially when it came to my writing. My writing is what exposed my dyslexia and brought much into perspective for me when the problem was finally identified. Through the years I often felt inept and asked God why He put such a burden of writing on me when I was a “big” failure at it.

Looking back on the challenges with my dyslexia, I realize it was a type of “thorn in the side” that kept me dependent on the Lord. I would do all I could do to do my best, but in the end, it was God’s grace that proved sufficient in my lack and gave me the means to get me over the line. I am thankful for the “thorn in the side” because I have time and again experienced the sufficiency of God’s grace because of it (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

I have struggled with my speech as well. My biological father was considered legally deaf and was declared legally blind after colliding with a train. He attended a school for the deaf and blind at a young age and learned a trade. Some of his friends were deaf mutes.

My parents were divorced when I was nine, but I remember before that event watching my dad talk to his deaf friends in sign language and some of the grunts that went with their expressions. I realize we pronounce words the way we hear them and for me it became apparent I pronounced words based on how I heard my dad pronounce them. The scenario of the blind leading the blind would apply to the concept of hearing as well (Matthew 15:14). However, my speech was even worse than my father’s, and in the 4th grade a speech therapist worked with me at my school. He tried to help me with proper sounds and how to form them.

I still leave out certain sounds, stress others at the wrong time, and can really make mincemeat out of the English language. I try hard to sound out words, but no matter how many times I do, as soon as I go to use them, I become confused about how to say them.

Words are necessary for communication. However, there is another point of communication and that is learning to listen. The Lord warned us to beware of how we hear something because we often hear and see through filters (Luke 8:18). Due to my speech problem, the Lord used it to teach me how to listen. Real hearing is a matter of a pure heart that casts aside all preconceived notions, assumptions, and prejudice to really hear what a person is saying. People who are around me long enough learn how to listen to me despite my challenges with English and hear what I am saying. I am thankful that the Lord has used my own ineptness to teach me how to listen and hear so that I can properly minister to struggling souls (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).

As you can see, the theme of this writing is thankfulness. It is God’s will that we be thankful in all matters, good and bad. Thankfulness was a sacrifice in the Old Testament. It was a way for the soul to bless the Lord for His goodness. It produces contentment of soul in both the lean and abundant times (2 Chronicles 29:31; Philippians 4:6-7; 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18). It keeps one grounded on what is truly important.

Thankfulness seems to be missing among many of this nation because like those of Sodom they do not recognize what they have due to the abundance of things (Ezekiel 16:49-50). All too often abundance ends in grave abuse of things as well as a disconnect from what it takes to possess them with a grateful heart. Sometimes in abundance it does not become about what you have, but what you don’t possess. Usually, we must experience lack before we develop gratitude for what we have.

As we approach a time of Thanksgiving, my prayer is that you will pause and look back at the blessings of God and see how those blessings have enriched your present life. In realizing how God has indeed intervened and blessed you, you will then be prepared in all sincerity to offer up the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving on that special day of celebrating the many gifts of God (Hebrews 13:15; 1 Peter 1:5-9).