Pause

Last October I ran my first 5K in long time.  I spent weeks training for this run; therefore, I fully expected to do well.  Unfortunately, I did not live up to my expectations. My goal was to be able to run the whole distance, but I was unable to do it.  I also wanted to run it within 32 minutes. Instead, I finished in 38 minutes.  The only goal I met-and I am proud of it-was to run a 5k. So, one out of three goals isn't bad.  

One thing did catch my attention during the race. There was a young lady who passed me during the race.  About every 3 minutes, she would stop running, and walk for another minute, and then run again.  She repeated this the whole race.  I thought that I would eventually pass her, and finish the race long before she did.  I thought wrong.  Her stopping and running enabled her to finish the race several minutes before me. Her taking time to pause during her run did not slow her down, but actually sped up her pace and time.

I learned a valuable life principle from this young lady.  Life is a marathon, and we would do well to pause occasionally. The Lord created this principle when he established the Sabbath.  Most of us are way to busy; therefore, we really need to pause.  When we take regular periods to rest, we will find that they are very useful interruptions.  They will give us time to refuel our relationship with the Lord.  It will renew us physically, intellectually, and emotionally.  In addition, it will give us time to aim our efforts more accurately.   Take some time to pause.