The Speed of Life

Each day, over 41 million messages are sent on WhatsApp. On Facebook it’s about 300,000.

Instagram users post about 347,222 stories every day. And that’s just us looking at some stats from META. There are about 100k Google searches every second, so that’s about 8.5 billion a day.

TikTok average users spend 1.5 hours per day on the app, which for apps is a lot! 540 hours a year!

We are talking here about a massive volume of data, information and noise that is directed at your life at nearly the speed of light, which is more than 670 million miles per hour.

Feeling tired yet? There is a pace to modern life that I believe isn’t what we have been designed for.

Is it any wonder we feel suffocated at times in life under a barrage of noise, busyness, outcomes, goals, achievements, titles, expectations, and targets? We have lost or are losing the wonder, the art, and even the worship of being still with God.

I had a day of silence a while back, 24 hours. It was horrendous. For the first four hours my mind was all over the place. I couldn’t be still, couldn’t stop thinking, couldn't stop moving. Then I fell into a deep sleep. Only then was I calm enough to really be still and rest.

I think this is partly because the idea of "stillness" feels so unproductive and pointless; life is all about movement, busyness, productivity, same-day delivery—that’s where it’s at right?

No.

We are created to know stillness with God. It’s part of the design and must be recovered.

My challenge for you is to make that time every day this week to be still. Find the time and be still. Switch off, even for a moment, and invite Jesus to meet with you. Turn your mind and heart toward Jesus in that stillness. This is vital, and the thing is I think our mates, family, and the community we are part of that don’t see or know Jesus, will see a difference in you through this.

Breathe. Switch off. Be still with Jesus.

Devotional Prayer

Jesus, I look to you today. Help me to recognize the places in my life that are overwhelmed, exhausted, and holding on to the speed of life. Help me be the man you are calling me to be; meet me as I forge time to seek you.