The gift of time and the promise of peace
Thanks to a friend, I’ve gained a new spiritual discipline which carried me through a stretching few weeks following my mum’s fall. I can’t believe I hadn’t done it before as I’ve been on the road for decades as a Christian!
It is so simple and takes 5 to 10 minutes a day though you could take longer. I take a line of Scripture between 5 and 10 words, sometimes from my Bible reading. I set a timer on my phone and get comfy (but not in bed in case I fall asleep!). Then I echo God’s words in my head, not worrying if a thought rushes in to interrupt. I just bat it away to address later and repeat the words again. I see them as home. For this short time, Scripture is my resting-place.
I had meditated on Scripture before but not quite like this. My usual approach was in typically activist fashion, dancing around each word, sometimes puzzling over it, maybe wrestling to apply it, repenting where my life didn’t line up and then deliberately turning it into praise. I fully intend to keep doing that because that practice has hugely blessed me.
But this is different. This is rest for the soul. I’m not aiming to report back my insights. This isn’t work. Of course, the more stressed I am, the harder it is to settle – that’s where the timer helps. At the end of it, I’ve found I’m affirming the verse with every part of me and all day, it is a homing beacon to peace when life is stressful.
As Isaiah wrote, “He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in him, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord!” Isaiah 26:3 The Living Bible
This practice anchored me (along with friends’ faithful prayers) as I clutched my steering wheel around hiccupping traffic on the M25, heading up to Oxfordshire to sort out care options. Thankfully, mum is now doing better but I intend to continue meditating like this. It helps me see it as my gift of time to God which becomes his gift of himself to me.
Meditation is fashionable now, with proven mental health benefits, so maybe you already do this. But I’m writing in case you too are late to the meditation party or are perhaps fearful it is a dodgy spiritual practice. It is actually an ancient biblical practice, carrying the promise of blessing (Psalm 1:2).
People with their minds set on you, you keep completely whole. (Is 26:3 The Message)
It isn’t just that Christian meditation helps us slow down and breathe deeply. It isn’t about emptying your consciousness, and it definitely doesn’t involve Buddhist mantras. We are offered divinely empowered CBT; when we meditate on God’s Word, it is active and dynamic to renew our minds (Hebrews 4:12).
If you want a verse to start with – how about this one which has stuck with me all week? “The Lord has become my salvation”. Exodus 19:2
As you offer God this gift of time to still your heart and allow his word to settle, may you find this is God’s gift to you.
Photo by Yaniv Knobel on Unsplash