Take Time to Ponder

Living in this frenetic world of instant communication, we have become so used to responding quickly to all the information that bombards us daily through instant messages, emails, social media, news bulletins, sport results and so on. Our minds, like never before, are being trained to bounce from one thought process to another, to another and back again, to pick up where we left off five seconds ago.

Whilst this development of our minds enables us to cope with the challenges that this technical age has brought us, I wonder if it is robbing us of a more fundamental need in life - the need to ponder … to think about over a period of time, to chew over, to consider from various angles.

We can so easily transfer our modern way of living into how we hear from God. I wonder how many times we have commented on how good a sermon or teaching was, but a day later it is all but forgotten. Life can very easily become about ticking things off the ‘to do’ list and that can include our times with God and listening to what He is saying to us.

When I think of Mary, she must have felt a huge sense of overwhelm of so many confusing messages and events surrounding Jesus’ birth. Yet, in the midst of all the chaos and uncertainties, she didn’t dismiss what she couldn’t fully comprehend. She treasured these things up and pondered them in her heart. I often wonder if Mary was reminded of Simeon’s words, “And a sword will pierce your soul,” when she watched Jesus being crucified … a final conclusion to the ponderings of her heart.

I wonder if we also need to take more time to treasure up in our hearts the things the Lord says to us, even if we can’t fully comprehend them yet. And do we need to take time to stop, think, consider, allow God to say more, and interact with Him about what He has said?

Even as I write this, I can see the cows in the field lying down and chewing on the cud, fully processing the food they have eaten. I wonder if we miss out on the full richness of what God is saying by not fully processing what God speaks and moving on too quickly.

Whilst the world we live in seems to be pushing us at a fast pace, I am reminded of the words of the poem, ‘Leisure’ by W.H. Davies where the final lines read: ‘A poor life this if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.’