Slowing Down Enough to Notice
January 21, 2019
January 21, 2019
Read: Psalm 19
The heavens declare the glory of God. (v. 1)
Sitting in the dark next to the campfire, I looked up and saw a sky filled with stars. I had managed to slip away to go camping and was treasuring the stillness. That afternoon I had watched woodpeckers skirting around the trees and heard the rustle of squirrels through underbrush. It was March, but it felt like October. The trees were bare and the ground littered with leaves. It took several hours before I noticed a small sign of spring: a violet growing next to the path. Yet once I noticed one, I saw them everywhere. One became two, then four, then more than I could count, each saying, “We’re here, we’re here! Just slow down and notice us.”
Remember the story of Joseph and his special coat? I knew this story from my childhood. Yet as I lingered recently in the narrative of Genesis 37-50, this old story shot forth new questions and observations. Was Joseph a bratty younger brother or just oblivious? What was it like for Ruben to face nine brothers ready to kill their father’s favorite? These questions had always been here saying, “We’re here, we’re here! Will you slow down long enough to notice us?”
Likewise, in Psalm 19 the psalmist effusively praises God’s law. Perhaps seeing what the psalmist sees also takes slowing down enough to notice. What can you do to slow down when walking in God’s world or reading God’s Word? —Sarah Seibert
As you pray, ask God to help you slow down and notice what he is saying to you today.
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