Hitting the Pause Button

Somewhere in the top of one of your closets or on the top shelf of your garage where appliances go to die you might have an old VHS player.  Remember the tapes you used to rent from the movie store – the one with the sign on the wall "be kind, please rewind?" Yes, this is the "Video Home System" (bet you didn’t know that one) we used to play movies on, rent tapes from the stores, and even record our favorite sitcom when we were away from our homes.

The VHS system didn’t replace going to the movies, but it had certain advantages.  It wasn’t as expensive as actually going to the theaters, and we could wear anything we wanted in the comfort of our own home.  If you were to ask people what their favorite feature of the VHS over the theaters was, you’d probably get the answer of "I can hit pause and go to the bathroom!"  We could hit the pause button, go the kitchen, go to the bathroom, or even answer the phone. No matter the interruption, hitting the pause button would allow us to not miss a single second of our movie.

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s hard to hit the pause button.  Even if we could, most of us get very anxious when things come to a stand-still and we didn’t choose the paused moment.  Take for example sitting in stopped traffic on the interstate. We have a destination and a preplanned time of arrival, and sitting paused on the interstate didn’t fit in our plan.  Our heart rate increases as does our blood pressure. But in those "paused" instances, have you ever seized the moment to notice things you’ve never seen before?

Look out of your window and down.  What seems to be a very smooth surface as your racing down the interstate is really quite rough and, in some places grooved.  An on even on one such occasion, I noticed very short grass growing in the expansion cracks of the roadway. I pondered how even in the face of adversity, with thousands and thousands of tires rolling down the interstate every day; this little sign of God’s creation is growing.  Even in the midst of man’s concrete creation, God reminds us He is here.

As we come up on the Thanksgiving holiday in a few days and progress into the Advent season, I invite you to hit the pause button as often as you are able.  Even if you didn’t choose the paused moment, look around and see the reminders God is with you even in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of the season. Take the time to thank Him for the joy in the signs of His presence.  I assure you, hitting the pause button for these "God moments" will not cause you to miss a single moment of this movie we all star in – the gift of living in God’s presence.