Welcome to the first blog from Press Pause Ministries. Over the course of the next months and years my hope is to encourage you to pause and notice God’s presence and love extended toward you and me. This season for me has been a time of transition. I left a job context I had been a part of for nine years, my mother transitioned from this life into life in the presence of Jesus Christ, and I sensed the leading of God to begin a new ministry. I think I would score fairly high on stress indicator tests. All these transitions have, to some degree been overwhelming and have produced their share of anxiety. But as I have begun this new chapter and watched as other, previous chapters have closed, I have been reminded from the words of the psalmist to “Be still, and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)” This reminder has not always been welcomed or heeded in the face of some of the challenges encountered. My natural inclination when faced with challenges is to think about the ways to address the challenge with the full force of my ideas, insights and experience, along with my charm and personality.

The concept the psalmist celebrates almost seems counter-intuitive to the way the world, as I know it, operates. The psalmist calls for stillness, or the cessation of my activity and striving, in order to recognize again that the great “I AM” is God. He calls me to acknowledge that I am not God even though at times I may try to take on that role and fix the world around me. The psalmist calls me, in this effort to “be still”, to have faith that God will accomplish the very things that will glorify Him and are best for me. The very act of setting aside my plans to address these challenges is an act of faith. It is the act of placing faith in His plan and power to carry out His will. The act of being still allows me to watch and learn as God reveals Himself in power and majesty. The act of being still reminds me that life and love do not depend upon my action but upon God’s presence and action.

So I find myself in an interesting place. It is the place of a new beginning that seems to equate moving forward with being still. In faith, I will be still and know that the Lord of all creation is God. In obedience I will be still and trust in His work to move me into the next place well. To begin with, in the place of new beginnings, I will press pause and be still.