I don’t know about you but it feels like I blinked and found myself in the middle of the year. I mean how did we speed through New Year’s, Valentines and Easter? The halfway mark of the year can be bitter sweet. For some, it is a time to celebrate the fact that they’ve already accomplished most of their new year resolutions in the first half of the year. For others, it is a reminder that there hasn’t been much progress in achieving their goals and now they have to play catch up for the remainder of the year. Wherever you find yourself, this post is for you.

June is my birthday month and it’s often a great point for me to pause and reflect on what my previous year has looked like and my hopes, dreams and goals for the coming year. However, like most people, I can easily speed through life trying to chase the next that I completely miss the joys of the now. As they say, today is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present.

We cannot talk about pausing, stillness and rest without looking to Jesus. Jesus is the perfect example of peace and calm. He spent majority of His life hidden and it was not until He turned 30 that He started His ministry. In our world today, Jesus would have been viewed as being “too late” to live out His purpose and most of us would have expected Him to be rushing everywhere to play catch up.

Not our Savior though. He chose to follow a rhythm of rest. Or as John Mark Comer would put it, He chose to ruthlessly eliminate hurry. Jesus walked everywhere, had time to dine with people, spent alone time with God and even slept in a storm. Yet John tells us that He did so much that there wouldn’t be enough books in the world to describe all that He did (John 21:25)

So how did He do it? How did He live out His purpose without rushing through life. I believe that He practiced these three important rhythms of reset:

1. Jesus set aside quiet time with His Father.

Jesus said that He only did what He saw His Father doing (John 5:19). Jesus was very clear of His purpose on earth because He had a constant and consistent relationship with God the Father. Many times when I feel like I have so much to do and not enough time to do everything, it is often because I haven’t been spending enough time with God so I am not clear on which assignments are from Him and which ones are not.

I often lack time, money and capacity to do what God told me to do because I am busy doing everything that He never called me to do. Not necessarily bad things but just things that are outside the purpose God has for my life. Other times I am rushing to do everything at the same time or I am procrastinating. I am learning to ask God everyday, “Lord, what do you want me to do today?” Each day has enough trouble or it’s own (Matthew 6:34) and it does us no good to keep worrying about tomorrow before it comes.

“Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength — carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”

Corrie ten Boom

2. Jesus leaned on His community.

Jesus is the son of God. He is the all powerful One who could have done anything without needing any help. Yet He chose to seek the help of others as He was living out His purpose. For example, He borrowed Simon Peter’s boat so He could preach (Luke 5), He sent some of His disciples to get a donkey for Him (Matthew 21:1-2) and He also used the disciples as waiters to distribute fish and loaves (Matthew 14:19-20). Most importantly, at the darkest point of His life, He was vulnerable with 3 of his closest friends and asked them to pray with Him (Matthew 26:36-38).

Sometimes God’s assignments to us are actually group projects. We get burnt out because we are trying to execute them by ourselves. For every Moses there is an Aaron, For every David there is a Jonathan, For every Timothy there is a Paul. We were never meant to do life alone. Remember, there is no I in TEAM and UNITY starts with U n I.

3. Jesus paid attention to every detail

There are many times where Jesus paused and took time to notice someone and make them feel seen and loved. Whether it is the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4), or the woman with the issue of blood (Luke 8:43-48) or Zacchaeus who was on top of a sycamore tree (Luke 19:1-10) or even Nathanael who was under a fig tree (John 1:48). The list is endless.

Jesus knew that His mission was to save people and so He took time to know and see them. There are many times we are rushing to the finished product that we completely miss out the significance of the process. Sometimes our purpose is not to make more money or be known, sometimes it’s simply to pause and pay attention. Pay attention to the lessons this season is trying to teach us, pay attention to the people we are called to serve and to the needs we are called to meet. Jesus did this perfectly and we should follow the example He modelled for us.

Whether you are feeling burnt out or feeling energetic this month, I believe these 3 rhythms of reset will be really helpful to assess how you’ve been living for the last 5 months and what things you need to stash or trash as we go into the 2nd half of the year? Please let me know in the comments which rhythm of reset you intend to incorporate into your daily life going forward.

Prayer.

Lord, life can go by so fast that I forget to pause and focus on You and what You want me to do. Forgive me for rushing through life and mismanaging the assignments You have given me and the people You have called me to serve. Please help me to prioritise my quiet time with you, lean into my community and pay attention to the little things you have placed on this journey called life that make it worth living. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.