Some years ago I became friends with a successful young businessman named Henry. Henry was in perpetual motion, but eventually I got him to stop long enough to tell me how he had gotten where he was. During his first year of college, his father had given him some money to invest, and he had gone into business with a childhood friend. They quickly did so well that Henry doubled his class load so he could graduate a year early and go to work full time. He finished at the top of his class, with a double major. (He’d always been an overachiever, he explained.) By the time I met him ten years later, he had made more money than a lot of people make in a lifetime, but he was still putting in fever-pitch 10- and 12-hour days. He also had an active social life. After observing this (and the inevitable toll it was taking) for a few weeks, I asked him when he found time for reflection. That came as an entirely new thought to him.

We don’t have to be living in the fast lane like Henry to miss taking time to think about the deeper things of life. There are more than enough other things to keep us occupied every waking moment, but we miss the best when we fill up on things of little real consequence.

God created us with a hunger for truth and happiness and peace of mind, for total love and complete understanding. That is an inner void that He made to be filled with Himself, and only He can fill it. He wants nothing more than to do just that, and He will if we will just hold still long enough.

When was the last time you stopped to reflect? If you’re out of practice or don’t know where to start, the tried and proven tips in this issue of Activated are sure to help.

Keith Phillips 

For Activated