A thought by Charles R. Swindall, from his book, Start Where You Are. Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
For some of us, maybe change is what we need.
Charles says, “A man can wear out a particular part of his mind by continually using it and tiring it, just in the same ways as he can wear out the elbows of his coat. There is, however, this difference between the living cells of the brain and inanimate articles: One cannot mend the frayed elbows by rubbing the sleeves or shoulders; but the tired parts of the mind can be rested and strengthened, not merely by rest, but by using other parts. It is not enough merely to switch off the lights which play upon the main and ordinary field of interest; a new field of interest must be illuminated.”
He goes on, “It is no use saying to the tired mental muscles—if one may coin such an expression—'I will give you a good rest.’ ‘I will go for a long walk,’ or ‘I will lie down and think of nothing.’ The mind keeps busy just the same. If it has been weighing and measuring, it goes on weighing and measuring. If it has been worrying, it goes on worrying. It is only when new cells are called into activity, when new stars become the lords of the ascendant, that relief, repose, refreshment are afforded.”
Earlier he said, “As any student of the New Testament would tell you, Paul’s life over the previous twelve to fifteen months had been anything but serene. Forced to appear before several frowning judges in one courtroom after another, the apostle also had endured mob violence, physical abuse, demonic and satanic oppression, imprisonment, the pain of misunderstanding by friend and foe alike, and more than one threat on his life.
“Most of those things he endured alone . . . so toss in the loneliness factor. The storm at sea seemed a fitting and climactic analogy for those long months prior to the shipwreck off the coast of Malta.”
Charles then says, “Forgive me if I sound uncaring, but it took a shipwreck to jolt Paul’s perspective back into focus. The disaster at sea, followed by the forced change of pace on Malta, was precisely what he needed to begin the process of recuperation and repair.”
He later said, “Lest you think that ‘doing nothing’ is the only thing involved in stopping over at Malta, reconsider, . . . Paul does not merely walk along the beach and finger a few seashells. Nor does he spend weeks staring at sunsets and wiggling his toes in the sand. For him to heal, he needed more than stoic silence. He needed change.”
Could that be what we also need?
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