Earlier this month, all of Weakley County lay under a generous blanket of snow. At one point, every county in Tennessee closed schools as the Volunteer State was inundated with winter weather from Memphis to Mountain City. While students received an extended break, workers braved the weather to keep power on, animals fed, and roads as clear as possible. The snow seemed to cast an almost eerie quiet over our community.

While the work of some increases in icy conditions, many of us find ourselves asked to stay home and off the roads in such weather. We live in a culture that loves to be on the go, and so we can find it challenging when forced to slow down. In the 1950s, researchers theorized that technological advances over the next few decades would make future America a land of increased ease and recreation, vastly reduced work hours, and longer, unstressed lifespans. While technology has certainly impacted and improved our lives in many ways, I don’t think we can honestly say it has helped us to slow down or lead far less hurried lives. In fact, many of us have allowed our increased options in travel, technology, and entertainment to turn us into people who cannot seem to enjoy the restful time we do have.

At least for a few days, the snow stopped or at least slowed down our pace.

Did you enjoy this change?

If social media is any indication, folks cooked, baked, read, worked puzzles, and watch movies. Despite the bitter cold, some people hunted or enjoyed playing outside with children and grandchildren. Some of us found ourselves with a little more time to check in on neighbors, to call up old friends, or to send those cards we had been intending to mail.

The Bible speaks repeatedly of the importance of stillness. Psalm 46:10 which opens with “Be still, and know that I am God,” holds within it the idea of ceasing our striving and realizing God’s ultimate control and assured victory. The gospels record Jesus commanding a physical storm to still resulting in “a great calm” (Mt 8:26; Mk 4:39; Lk 8:24). Whether our hearts are quieted by the assurance of God’s role in the world or we bear witness to His power to calm the upheaval in our lives, countless believers through the ages have experienced the truth of these passages.

Peace comes not through the absence of conflict but through the reality of God’s powerful presence.

Too often in the busyness of daily life, we forget that God is near to us. Because we do not stop in stillness, we lose touch with the knowledge of God’s true character. We find ourselves seeking more and more, and we neglect to pay attention to either our own souls or the needs of others (Lk 12:13-21). When we fail to withdraw to stillness, the pressures of family, work, community, and even church life grow heavier upon us. If we will not choose stillness, the grind of the always urgent press of our days will drain away the reserves of spiritual strength we can refill only in His presence (Mk 1:35-39). When this happens, we do not hear from God- we don’t have the time, and we are instead at the mercy of those who always seem to need or want our attention.

I pray stillness will not scare us, but that we can all aspire to be more intentional about seeking quiet moments with God. If we are willing to turn down the outside distractions, we become more attuned to what God longs to share with us in His presence- no snow required.

In speaking of the brevity of life, James 4:14 offers this insight,

“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

Few of us who have lived long in this life would deny this truth.

One day we are nervous about our first day of school and the next we are watching our own grandchildren walk across the stage at their graduations.

Despite knowing that even the longest life is brief, we often live an unexamined life under the impression that we will have more time.

While we cannot know the exact length of our days or the challenges they will bring, we can and should choose the mindset we embrace as we move through our lives.

When looking at the issues facing our world, some will choose to live a constantly critical life.

There is certainly much wrong in our world- destructive weather and tragic accidents, crime and violence, corruption and injustice, disease and spiritual darkness.

All of us who are paying attention see these challenges and these hardships, but we consider the many bad situations side-by-side with the good that exists around us.

The one who chooses the critical life ends up actually wanting to be cynical and bitter so the truth of his own judgment proves true- and he comes to discount any aspect of reality that would prove there is good left and hope alive.

To paraphrase the folk song, this person sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest.

Such a critical life not formed in a moment, but by many small negatives that compound over time.

Not everyone will choose this cynical criticism, but many of us will choose to lead highly compartmentalized lives.

In order survive in an often harsh world, we divide our larger lives into smaller sections and parts that, at least in theory, can be managed more easily.

We may have “work life,” “family life,” “school life,” “church life,” and so on. We come to think we can keep these areas of life from overlapping too much, and we approach each day with the idea of divide and conquer.

We often come to realize that while this compartmentalization may be efficient for a season, it becomes an unfulfilling and often conflicted way to live.

We may do a lot, but nothing is done fully or well.

If our compartments conflict, we end up living with more self-created tension and anxiety.

Amid those who are critical of others or so compartmentalized that they struggle to be genuine, there are those who will choose a committed, Christ-centered life.

Both the commitment and the focus on Christ are vital to those who take this path.

On the surface, a committed life of any kind may sound positive, but it is only better if our guiding commitments are set upon the right things.

Being Christ-centered is essential, but we must be centered in Him and committed to Jesus over the course of time- not just in the excited enthusiasm that often accompanies conversion.

To be both committed and Christ-centered will form the lasting components that shape a faithful life.

Life is brief, and yet the life we choose shapes not only our own souls but impacts the many lives that intersect our own.

We cannot know what will befall us or how soon our vapor will vanish, but we can commit and center our days in the One who not only knows our paths but values our lives far more than we can ever fully understand.