One of my sons is unwell. He has a bad dose of the ‘flu. And it really seems to be the genuine thing. Not “man ‘flu”. He has been confined to bed for the last three days and I can not remember a time when he has not wanted to go out with his mates of an evening. The guitar has been laid to rest and the ceilings in our house are having a brief respite from the vibration of the bass and drum noise that eminates from his speakers.

 

He has been running a high temperature and early this morning when I went in to check on him he was soaking wet from sweat. He told me that he had been dreaming that it was his job to keep running on a treadmill and that if he stopped the whole earth would implode – he was so exhausted and, in his words this was the reason why he was so hot and sweaty!!

 

I had a bit of a chuckle to myself but it got me thinking…

 

“How much running am I doing doing during the day because I fear that the world will implode?” I am a busy person – I like to be busy, sometimes I get my priorities wrong but I seem to be the type that thrives more under pressure. I get a bit bored if I do not have deadlines to look forward to. However I recognise that sometimes I am running because I am fearful that if I don’t everything will collapse around me. Running also includes “worrying”. I read somewhere that over 90% of the things that we worry about don’t happen – small comfort I know for some – but we do need to put things into proportion. The world will not collapse if I stop!

 

There is a lovely verse in the Psalms which says “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty”. It was written by King David who had massive responsibilites and who also knew what it was to work and fight hard. However he also knew when it was time to stop running. David knew how to engage with God who after all was the creator of the earth in the first place and it will only collapse when He says it is time.

 

I am reminded of the small boy who asked his Mum, “Why does my Dad come home later than the Dads of all the other children?”. “Well”, his mother replied, “that’s because he can’t finish all his work in the normal time”.

The little boy paused for a moment and then said, “Why don’t they put him in a slower class?”.

 

Rest assured the world will not implode because you have stopped running. Learn what it is to know how to rest in the security of God.

 

Till next time…

Rich