Pause

Pause, a button on recording equipment and an action taken by humans, means a temporary stop, break, time to reconsider, to linger, breather, interruption, lull. As we learn from Ecclesiastes 3:1, there is a time for everything. So if there is a right time for pause, there must be a wrong time.  If there is a right way or a right place to pause, there would also be a wrong way and a wrong place.  Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 8: 5b that the wise heart knows the proper time and procedure for every matter. 

Remember when Moses paused to cry out at the Red Sea and was asked by the Lord why he was crying out to him.  His command was to go forward, to move on (see Exodus 14:15). As with Moses and the Israelites at the Red Sea, we sometimes find ourselves pausing, stopping, and taking a break at the wrong time.  Even when facing a formidable foe, a major obstacle or hurdle, or a mountain too high to climb, we are called to listen closely and carefully for the still small voice of the Lord telling us when to pause and when not to.

When the traffic signal changes to green for you, have you taken a pause which kept you from being broadsided by the driver speeding through a red signal?  Have you paused or hesitated before responding in a conversation, and that pause kept you from saying the wrong thing?  On the other hand, has a pause or too long a stop caused you to miss a God ordained opportunity?  Holy Spirit leads you to pray for another, and your pause, your wait keeps you from making the call?  A pause as simple as hitting the snooze button when the alarm goes off causes you to be late for work, miss a meeting, get caught up in the traffic rush, make your child late for an important test in first class, be late for church and miss a move of the Holy Spirit who showed up at the appointed time? 

Selah – pause, stop and think about it!  I pray for hearts of wisdom to know the proper time to pause and the proper time not to pause.