Galatians 5:16-26
We live in a world that seems to expect an immediate response.
We react to messages, headlines, conversations, frustrations, and disagreements almost before we’ve had time to think about them. Sometimes our reactions are helpful. Sometimes they aren’t.
And our faith lives aren’t always different.
We can react to difficult questions before we’ve really considered them. We can react to someone who challenges us before we’ve listened. We can react to disappointment, uncertainty, or conflict before we’ve given ourselves time to wonder what God might be doing in the midst of it.
But there is a difference between reacting and responding.
A reaction is often immediate. It comes from instinct, emotion, habit, or whatever happens to be closest to the surface.
A response has room in it. It gives us time to listen, to think, to pray, and to consider what might be faithful.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul encourages us to “live by the Spirit.” He describes the fruit that grows when we allow the Spirit to shape our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control.
Perhaps one way we can practice living by the Spirit is by creating a little more space between what happens to us and what we do next.
It’s not so that we can suppress our feelings or avoid difficult things. Rather it is so we can respond to life with our whole selves rather than simply reacting from our first impulse.
This week, whenever you notice yourself having a strong reaction, practice pausing before you respond.
Take one slow deep breath. Notice what you’re feeling. Then ask:
“Spirit of God, how are you inviting me to respond?”
You don’t need to have an immediate answer, that’s not the point. Sometimes the faithful response will be to speak. Sometimes it will be to listen. Sometimes it will mean changing your mind. Sometimes it will mean holding your ground. Sometimes it may simply mean waiting until you have had time to understand what is really happening.
This same practice can be used with your faith.
If you encounter a difficult passage of Scripture, a challenging question, or something that unsettles your understanding of God, resist the urge to immediately resolve it.
Pause. Sit with it. Pray about it. Give God room to work in the questions as well as the answers. At the end of each day, think of one moment when you paused before responding.
Ask yourself:
“What was possible because I didn’t react immediately?”
You may discover that the pause didn’t make every situation easier, but it may have created enough space for patience, wisdom, compassion, or courage to enter the conversation.
That small space is sacred. It is a place where we can remember that we don’t have to let our first reaction decide who we will be.
We can pause. We can listen. And then, with the Spirit beside us, we can respond.
Let’s pray:
Spirit of God, slow us down when we are tempted to react too quickly. Give us the patience to pause, the wisdom to listen, and the courage to respond faithfully. In the space between what happens and what we do next, remind us that you are there. Amen.