The Slow Life

“He says, ‘Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’”

Psalm 46:10

It’s been exactly a week since we got to Costa Rica and what a week it has been! We’re staying at this incredible church in a tiny village close to the city of Nicoya. There’s a maze of dirt roads that leads from one colorful house to the next. Random dogs and cats will join you on your walks and the moos of the cows can be heard from a while away. We’ve spent most of our time walking to various surrounding villages with our host, Pastor Basilio, sharing the gospel and praying for people. I’ve never seen anyone in a hurry around here. When Basilio tells us that we’re going to evangelize at 9:00am, we know that we won’t be out the door until at least 9:45. No one rushes from one place to another, but they take their time strolling along and greeting anyone they see. Life is slow around here.

Aslan belongs to Basilio’s son, Deglyss. He lives at the church with us and loves to escort us around town. 

My team struggled with this slowness for the first few days. Life in the U.S. teaches us that busyness is the same as productivity. It’s been drilled into us that our schedules should be packed to the brim if we want to be fulfilled. We believe that hustle and bustle is what is best for us. But the Bible teaches the exact opposite.

Throughout Scripture, there is an immense emphasis on silence, stillness, and rest. The book of Ecclesiastes makes it clear that there is “a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7b). Silence makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Noise allows us to be distracted and drown out our thoughts. It keeps us from having to consider and contemplate things. But when we consistently surround ourselves with nothing but noise, it’s hard to actually hear God speak or spend time reflecting and thinking about His Word. We need gaps of silence to process everything that is happening around us.

Similarly, stillness is one of the best ways to get to know God better. When we put our lives on pause and just sit back to watch Him work, we’ll see so many more miracles. Have you ever just sat outside and watched the birds and butterflies? Have you ever observed a single flower and watched how it bends in the wind and the bugs flying around it? All of these beautiful, little miracles are around us every day, but we’re usually way to busy being productive that we miss them. There’s a reason why the Psalmist calls his readers to be still before they can know God (Psalm 46:10).

Rest is something that Adventures in Missions stresses a lot. After all, how are you supposed to pour into others when you aren’t even filled up? Human beings weren’t created to go full speed all the time. God intended us to work hard for six days, pushing ourselves to our full potential, and then taking a whole day to recharge and prepare for the next week. And let me be clear, hard work is certainly valued and stressed throughout Scripture (Proverbs 12:11, Matthew 5:16, 2 Timothy 2:6); it’s the very thing that God created us to do (Genesis 2:15). But we were given the gift of Sabbath for a reason and to ignore is one of the most destructive things we can do. In my next blog, I’ll be unpacking what I’ve learned about taking a Sabbath day and what rest looks like for me. Stay tuned!

My team has been working pretty hard over the past few days and the heat has really been getting to us. We desperately need some time to rest and be still. Please be praying that each of us learns to fully embrace the slow life here in Costa Rica and lean into still times with God.

I also want to encourage every single one of you to take some time being completely still and silent this week. Lean into God and let Him meet you right where you are. Look for His little miracles and allow yourself to rest.

There’s absolutely nothing like a sunset walk with one of your besties.