Creating Cuts

Can worry and faith co-exist?  In my feeble mind, they can.  But God’s Word tells us they can’t.  In James 1:6 – 8 we read, “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man; unstable in all he does.”    As I learned from A Confident Heart, by Renee Swope, worry is just a coat that doubt wears well.  When I worry, I’m doubting – doubting God.  

It’s like a movie – you can’t play and pause it at the same time.  It seems my life is lived that way.  When life gets stressful and I begin to worry, I hit the pause button and turn to God.  I tell myself to trust Him.  I read His promises and I believe them.  I instantly feel safe and secure in Him.  Until I hit the play button – and all the faith and trust disappears as the worry and doubt creeps back in.  

In making a movie, there are thousands of pauses; the director says “cut” for countless scenes. The backdrops are moved, costumes are changed, and lighting is adjusted.  The editors then splice together these scenes to create a continuous flow of action for the finished film.  When we, as the audience, watch the film, there are no ‘cuts’.  We don’t see the hundreds of splices in the film.  It’s almost as if they don’t exist.  But they do – they are just so frequent and small that we don’t even notice them. 

So how do I move my life from the pause/play effect to a finished film with continuous action?  Instead of my morning devotional and a “pause” every few days when life gets crazy, I have to create these countless “cuts” in my daily life. 

• ‘Cuts’ when I send a quick prayer up to God to help me in this moment. 
• ‘Cuts’ when I walk away for 30 seconds to ask God for patience or temperance. 
• ‘Cuts’ when I look out the window and praise God for the majesty of His creation. 
• ‘Cuts’ when I stop talking (and thinking) long enough to hear the small, still voice. 

With ‘cuts’ throughout my day, I can continuously live my life trusting in God.  And the need to press pause for long periods of time will fade.  My life will be lived turning to God with frequent and small periods of time throughout the day.  People around me won’t even see my ‘cuts’.  But they will see the expression of them in the way my life is lived.  My prayer is that God would be evident in even the most seemingly insignificant tasks and the joy of my salvation contagious to all those in my life. 

“Pray continuously” ~1 Thessalonians 5:17