Our local community of family and friends received shocking news last week. As Chip and I were enjoying a relaxing dinner with a group of Mavericks, who were attending our 2-day “The Art of the Tough Conversation” a troubling text arrived.
Unyielding words brought deeply disturbing news. A special someone in our extended community had succumbed to the deep depression she was experiencing and took her own life. Words cannot adequately capture our response. Life comes to a sudden and painful stop!
Just last summer I wrote about a text we received informing us of our friend Paul’s sudden death. Life and its’ trouble is so very real. If you need a refresher on keeping your “I Love U’s” current, then have a re-read of the “Don’t Wait! Keep Your ‘I Love U’s’ Current. I suspect that, like me, you will be glad you did.
What struck me, as I reflected on the deaths of two friends, is the speed at which I sometimes feel seduced into living. How about you?
Psalm 46:10 echoes loudly the call to be still – to know that God is God. This is a call for every Maverick to experience and offer to the world around them.
I DO NOT want to live a fast life. I am committed to living a purposeful, focused on “what God would have for me” life – no more, no less! And yet, as I write these words the sentiment echoing in the back of my mind is this…
“nice words, difficult to live out.”
How easy I can lose sight of what is most important. How quickly I can find myself operating at a pace that is just not sustainable. Sound familiar?
Click Here To Download The Poem “Slow Me Down Lord!”
This morning I am reminded by a poem by Wilfred Peterson, “Slow Me Down Lord”. It has become a prayer for me. As Mavericks, committed to living out the richness of Christ and His kingdom, we are called to live purposeful, focused and unhurried lives. We desperately need Jesus to help us slow down. The compulsions of our flesh seem to lure us into unsustainable spaces and paces.
Pray with me! Pray that we would be a Maverick community of men and women who continue to do the work of focusing on what matters most. Jesus did! We are called to do the same.
Click Here To Download The Poem “Slow Me Down Lord!”
A Maverick Application:
- SLOWLY read and reflect on Psalm 46:10.
- What are you saying about your pace at work and at home?
- What are others telling you?
- What is God telling you?
