Can I have a minute?

Can I have a minute,

just to breathe,

to sit and be still,

and not respond immediately

to everything

and everyone.

Can I have a minute,

to pause,

to reflect,

to not rush past

the 'Selah' of your Word.

Can I have a minute

to grieve,

to recognize 

what I have lost,

and how my life

has changed irrevocably.

Can I have a minute

to choose to say no

to the ever flowing

tide of information,

that demands

something of my soul.

Can I have a minute

to just

be.

I wrote this poem in 2024, a few months after my beloved Dad died. It was a time of turmoil for me with other external challenges and personal health issues. My soul was completely wrung out, and I was struggling to respond with trust towards God and grace to others.

Have you ever experienced a season like that in life, when just getting to the end of each day seems like a major achievement?

Others often don't realize the depths of despair our souls have reached. We are exhausted and empty, and we just want a minute to recover.

Of course we need much more than a minute, but we use this classic phrase because we don't want to seem too desperate, needy, struggling, or overwhelmed.

A minute is such a tiny amount of time, but our brains register it is enough to give respite.

Do you think God sometimes wants to say that to us?

Can I have a minute?

Of course, He is totally fine and not in need of anything, but He looks at us with such intense love in His eyes as we collapse in a heap when no one else is watching us.

He sees us.

He loves us so much.

He would love to have more than just a minute with us, because He knows how much grace, hope, strength, comfort, and love He can pour into our lives if we give Him our attention in the midst of our struggles.

Maybe the pain and trauma won't disappear immediately. Maybe there won't be an outward shift in circumstances. My Dad wasn't coming back to me, however much I grieved losing him.

But there was something else, significant and profound, as I gave God some minutes. I understood God was with me, that He would never leave me or forsake me, and He would be faithfully present with me each time I chose to be still in His presence. The powerful truths contained in Psalm 23 have become more real in my life journey.

There is comfort to be experienced in our time with God, and a growing revelation of what a gift eternity will be, to always be with Him and with others who have also responded to the free gift of salvation through Jesus. 

Psalm 23:1-6

"The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever."