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Stop and Smell the Roses

By: Steve Negley

Posted: August 1, 2014

Category: Daily Devotional

We don’t always do it, but we should from time to time; stopping to smell the roses, that is.

We get busy making the money we think we need to buy all the things we think we want. We even fill our days with helping others; others in our own families and strangers we barely know. We become so focused on the business and busyness of life that we rush and worry the moments away. And then, thankfully, we listen for God, and stop every once in a while, and let things come back into perspective.

I am putting these thoughts on paper while I am in the mountains on vacation. (I was so busy getting ready to leave town that I didn’t have the time to work ahead on this devotion. Or it may be that this devotion wasn’t ready to be written until I had slowed down on vacation to smell the roses.) This afternoon I watched two hummingbirds compete over the sugar water from a feeder. Tonight, just after the sun went down over the beautiful valley beyond the deck of the cabin we are renting, lighting bugs danced around the shrubs and the trees, pricking the darkness with their yellow glow. And right now the sounds of the insects make it seem almost as if the world itself is breathing in and out as it settles in for a nice evenings’ rest.

Jesus advised his harried followers to “Consider lilies of the field … and to look at the birds of the air.” (Matthew 6:26, 29) This was his recipe for how to overcome the worry and anxiety that often fills our busy lives. “If God provides for them”, Jesus suggested, “we can trust that God will make sure that we get what we really need, even when we take a little breather.” (my paraphrase)

I hope that we’ll all find some flowers, birds, or maybe even fireflies to enjoy today, as we join other creatures and take a little rest in God’s gracious sight.

Prayer

God our Creator, help me to focus on what is truly important each and every day, so that I can practice trusting Your loving care, in Christ’s name. Amen