‘The Lord blesses His people with peace.’ Psalm 29:11 NIV
There’s an old joke about a stressed-out personal assistant who told her boss, ‘When this rush is over, I’m going to have a nervous breakdown. I’ve earned it, I deserve it, and nobody’s going to take it from me!’
Ever feel like that? Not so long ago we marked the passing of time in seasons. But seasons got divided into monthly calendars, then to weekly planners, then daily timetables, one-minute managers, handheld personal organisers and now digital reminders. And what does it all lead to? As the workload goes up, quality of life seems to go down.
An article in USA Today described how therapist Ofer Zur staged a conference called ‘Speed.com: The Search for Meaning in the New Millennium’. And guess where he staged it? In the heart of stressed-out Silicon Valley, California! As the attendees gathered, Zur noted the drawn faces, worried frowns, and preoccupied looks of his audience. He said his personal alarm sounded when he noted they had brought mobile phones and laptops—and began using them during the session. Here’s what he said about it: ‘We’ve become obsessed with speed. We end up with lots of plans that we can’t execute and a full schedule that can’t be followed. The paradox of our time-saving tech gadgets is that we’ve wound up with no free time.’
Sound familiar? So where can you go to find peace? To the One whose name is ‘Prince of Peace’. Today He’s saying to you: ‘If only you had paid attention to My commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea.’ (Isaiah 48:18 NIV)
SoulFood: Ezek 31–33, Luke 20:20–26, Ps 27, Pr 20:5–6
word4today an adaptation of The Word For Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2023
