The Space Between Things
What if the moments we rush to fill are the very places God wants to meet us?
An Intentional Thought
The other day, I found myself standing in my kitchen waiting for water to boil.
The house was unusually quiet. One child was reading. Another was taking an online college summer class exam. The third was out on a run. Dinner prep was mostly done, and for a few brief minutes, there was nothing left for me to do except wait.
It’s funny how uncomfortable those moments can feel. Not because we’re busy—but because we’re so accustomed to filling every empty space, that we sometimes feel lost when we’re left with nothing to do but wait.
Times like waiting in the pickup line, standing in the checkout lane, arriving early for an appointment, or even sitting in the car before heading inside.
How often do those moments immediately become opportunities to reach for our phones? To scroll, listen, consume, or distract ourselves?
We’ve become incredibly skilled at filling every quiet space. Yet in doing so, we may be crowding out something our souls desperately need.
Stillness, reflection, and the awareness of God’s presence.
God speaks in whispers, not in shouts. And if we are constantly filling our lives with noise, consumption, and drivel, we leave little room for the quiet, the fullness, the satisfaction of Him.
God is present in far more moments than we realize. But if every pause is filled with distractions from consumption, we may miss the invitation waiting there.
Perhaps those small moments of waiting aren’t interruptions to our day.
Perhaps they’re invitations to breathe, notice, listen, and remember that we’re not carrying life on our own.
An Intentional Prayer
Father, Thank You for being present in both the busy moments and the quiet ones. Forgive me for the ways I rush to fill every empty space instead of turning to You. Help me recognize the small invitations throughout my day to pause and become aware of Your presence. Teach me to be comfortable with stillness and attentive to Your gentle leading. Quiet my mind, steady my heart, and help me hear Your whisper above the noise. Amen.
An Intentional Moment
This week, pay attention to the moments when you’re waiting. Before reaching for your phone, try something different.
Take five slow breaths.
Pray.
Look around and notice God’s goodness.
Sit in silence for a few minutes (maybe even set a timer for 5 minutes!).
I’m not promising a grand fanfare the first time you do it. Those first 5 minutes will either feel like torture because you feel like you should be doing something, or a struggle not to fall asleep because you finally sat still.
But I believe that if you start to build space for quiet and stillness, you will notice a positive change. Eventually, that peace and fullness you receive from sitting in the presence of your Creator will be carried with you through the day.
As His word promises: You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You. (Isaiah 26:3)
Let’s be more intentional with our thoughts, not allowing them to be overtaken by what we consume, but instead aligned with Who we follow after. Perhaps we’ll find less need for that consumption and find fulfillment in the only Place it can truly be found.
And perhaps over time you’ll discover something beautiful: peace often grows in the spaces we stop trying to fill.
Before you go.
When we fill our lives with what the world tells us will bring peace, we are only putting Band-Aids on our overwhelm. In my newest book, I Don’t Have to Hold It All Together: Cultivating the Peace of Eden When Feeling Overwhelmed, I dig deeper into practical and spiritual ways that we can address and experience God’s peace like He originally designed it for us all those years ago in Eden.