Coca-Cola coined the phrase "The pause that refreshes" in 1929. Since then, they have promoted themselves as a catalyst to let loose of life for a few moments, take a deep breath, and reset. Their slogan before? "Pause and refresh yourself." A tiny little shift that put the responsibility for 'refreshing' inside a bottle of soda, and not in the hands of the person who has stopped working for a few minutes.
As I reflect on this holiday season, I am pondering our Thanksgiving habits. Dinner table traditions of saying 'what we're grateful for.' A bit more gratitude toward the clerks and cashiers who help us with our turkeys and ribbons, and gift purchases. While I know it is important to have special times to pause and be thankful, to pause and be grateful; I'd like to propose there might be a better way than sporadic holiday traditions. I call it the Grateful Pause.
Psalm 30 was my scripture reading today. Unplanned by me, but on track by the Holy Spirit, I think.
"I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
O LORD my God, I cried out to you, and You healed me.
O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."
Psalm 30: 1-5 New King James Version
Grateful in the Dark
Oddly, David's psalm continues with a verbal sketch of his feelings of abandonment in that moment. His friends are nowhere to be found, and it seems like God is far off. What often goes unnoticed is the pattern of David's songs when he finds himself in confusion, disappointment, and depression.
He doesn't deny that times are tough. Nor does he pretend disaster isn't lurking at his door. Rather, we see his habitual ritual of worship in the face of pain and confusion. I believe this is most clearly revealed in 1 Samuel 30.
David and his mighty men, flushed with the victory of battle, arrive home and discover disaster. Their city razed by fire, their homes in wreckage, and their families captured by terrorists. Suddenly, the men who had followed him without question called for stones to kill him. Yet amid this, we read nine words. "But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God."
David took the time to remember to Whom he belonged. He reached into his memory and gathered up the prophecies and promises spoken over his life and over his people. Instead of running wild and defending himself before his war-weary, grieving guerrillas, David invoked the one sustaining force he had developed over a lifetime ... the Grateful Pause.
The Refreshing Pause
And like Coca-Cola, we must come to know and understand that the refreshing doesn't come from our words and actions, but from the One who fills in the space of our gratitude.
When faced with devastation or frustration or confusion, what if instead of texting and calling and posting to let the world know, we took 5 minutes to pause and reflect and remember the God who keeps us? What would it look like is when we feel powerless we remember the God who has all power? How might our emotions shift for us if we recounted the goodness of God over our lifetime and then prayed?
I get it. When the shock of bad news comes, our natural response stands up and shouts for its voice to be heard.
Therefore, if we are practiced in anger or bitterness or wailing or shutting down, that's what arrives first to the party.
It helps me then to observe David and his stepping away to be in God's presence when the unimaginable happened. It was the Grateful Pause. God was the Pause that Refreshes. David had to remind himself that the Creator of the Universe was for him, even when everything else was against him. In that moment he could quiet the emotions of grief and fear and anger and hear the voice of the God who already had a plan.
So today, if your heart is grieving and your mind is racing and you really can't think of much to be grateful for, it's more important than ever to pause and remember Who you belong to.
Jeremiah 17:7 says it like this: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him".
Grateful in All Seasons
Yet when times are easy and life is good, it's just as important to remember Who you belong to. I think sometimes it's easier to step away from the Lord when all is going just the way we want it. Family is healthy. Marriages are strong. Finances abundant. Work is meaningful.
We think, like the first iteration of Coke's promotion, that the refreshing is in us. That it flows from us. We can get lazy in our prayers and praise. I know. I've been there.
Like David, we must develop the holy practice of gratitude in all seasons. The good. The bad. And the oh-so-ugly.
A Grateful Gift for You
I have a mini-workshop titled Cultivate Gratitude. It is the perfect resource if you want to create more gratefulness in your life every. single. day. And with the coupon code GRATEFUL it's yours free. Be sure and grab it right away. It's yours forever, but the offer is limited. Along with the workshop, you also get:
