Hit the Pause Button
First comes the cut.
I had a small spot removed from my foot two weeks ago. In the moment, it was mildly painful.
Next comes the healing.
The injury ends; the healing begins. The doctor bandaged the spot, gave me medicine, and advised me to keep the wound covered for ten days so it could heal with no irritation or infection.
So I hit the pause button.
Pause is a quiet place.
It’s that space where you’re still too hurt to run back into life full-force. You slow down (or totally stop) for breathing room, to respect the injury, and to allow a decent head start toward recovery.
Where are you bleeding? Have you been cut by a sharp word or attitude or behavior from someone else? Or maybe your own?
Does your wound need space to heal?
Jesus invites us to pause.
There is healing in the pause.
There is grace in the pause.
In the pause, we quietly open our awareness to the Lord’s presence. To his good plan for our future. To his loving embrace of our pain.
Our pause may be only ten minutes here and there. It may be longer as our situation allows. But the Lord awaits us in it.
The pause may not eliminate our pain or restore us to complete healing (yet). But Jesus fills our empty places with grace. With love. His love.
He’s the One who not only wants our recovery the most, but who also has the most power to transform our brokenness into a sacred scar of beauty.
My foot is almost totally healed now. I still wear a band-aid but I won’t much longer.
When we’re willing to pause, his grace expands the healing.
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Do you have a wound that needs healing? How do you hit the pause button? Please share in the comments.
Calm & Stillness is August’s theme for my One Word 2016: Welcome.
I do have wounds, but they’re not the kind that heal. I have to keep running because to squarely face them is to face my own destruction.
I did try; with a Christian counselor’s help, I stopped to look them full in the face. But I didn’t have the strength then to set them to rest, and will not survive another attempt.
https://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2016/08/your-dying-spouse-195-prayers.html
This, a beautiful invitation, one we all need to heed.
The perfect place for us to begin? Turning off our screens. That I know for sure …
Lisa, just yesterday, I was reading “Looking for Lovely” by Annie F. Downs. She was talking about her propensity to be a quitter (I can relate) and how she learned how to pause instead of quit. It was quite profound! And now this morning, I find you speaking about the same word–I think there’s a message in here for me! You’re right … there is such grace in the pause, whether it lasts for a few minutes or even a few years.
You are right, there are times when we need to pause to allow healing to take and these times may be a few days, months or indeed years, as i have learnt myself, but healing still comes in the end.
I think we all need more pauses in our lives. It is in those moments we do heal.
Well, this one certainly hit home, my friend 🙂 We are in the midst of a move and getting ready for a trip north to finally have a memorial service for my Dad. And today I found out I need to have a medical procedure before we leave. Sometimes hitting pause isn’t a choice. But letting go and trusting God is, so that is what I’m working toward 🙂 Glad to hear you’re all healed! Blessings!
Just lovely, Lisa. I needed to be reminded to pause and let the Lord handle life’s on goings. Thank you for sharing with Thankful Thursdays.
Pausing really helps me to take a deep breath and remember that God’s in control. Thank you for this great reminder to hit pause when I need healing and rest. Thanks for sharing this at 100 Happy Days, Lisa!