Last year, our Senior Pastor had been to one of our sister churches and had heard one of their visiting speakers use the phrase “stopping for the one”. This was the first time I’d consciously heard that term, and it stood out to me. Sometimes a phrase just leaps out at you, and this one has definitely embedded itself in my mind.

For the last year I’ve been turning this over in my mind, examining it for the gold held within. I started noticing it come into use by a few speakers, but it stuck in the back of my mind and wouldn’t be silenced. I’ve been wrestling with the text — the Biblical meaning of meditation.

For me, the term has come to mean (at least) three things.

Stopping for the One

“I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.”

— ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭130:5‬

The primary meaning for me is waiting on God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We come to him in humility as servants of the Most High God. He is the Eternal One, high and above creation. He is worthy of our praise, our adoration, our selves, our everything. Knowing that we are unworthy to come near to him by our own strength, our own effort, our own goodness.

Yet as we approach him we are drawn in as royalty, as princes and princesses of the King of Heaven. Because of his love, we are loved, accepted, forgiven, made clean, made worthy to stand in his presence.

And he sends us out as ambassadors, enabled with the authority of the King. We are sent with the same Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus to do mighty miracles, to teach, to love, to be bold and make a difference in this world.

Stopping for the One is the act of waiting on him in prayer, worship, adoration, meditation. One on one with him who loves us most, the ultimate source of love, truth and revelation.

Stopping for the one

“But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

— ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40:31‬

When we come into God’s empowering presence, we have the opportunity to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Here is where we can drink of the Living Water and never be thirsty again.

The Holy Spirit fills us with his power, enabling us to live a fearless life of mighty deeds, of mighty compassion, of mighty love. It is here in his presence that we are changed, transformed to be more like him, where our body, soul and mind are made new.

Stopping for the one here is to be refreshed, to be filled to overflowing with his love, his grace, his mercy and his power. It is from the place of being one on One with God that we ourselves find faith, hope and love.

Stopping for the one(s)

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”

— ‭‭Acts‬ ‭1:8‬

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are filled to overflowing. The Living Water that is poured into our lives will then overflow into the lives of the people around us.

We are empowered not only for ourselves, but beyond ourselves and into the world around us. When we are empowered by the Holy Spirit, our everyday is infused with his love, joy and peace. Our moment to moment is spent in constant conversation with God. Our actions are driven out of true compassion rather than duty. The Great Commission becomes a love response to hurting people instead of some dry command that drives us out of expectation or guilt.

Jesus calmed the storm because he lived a life fully immersed in the Holy Spirit. The peace that calmed the storm was the peace that he carried with him all the time. He lived a life that overflowed from the living water within.

Stopping for the one(s) here starts from having been filled, and pours out from the overflow. The living water that comes through the Holy Spirit splashes around on to those that need it most. The love, joy and peace that fill us is on full display to our friends, family and community.

 

This website is a response to these things, an exploration of what it means to wait on God, to be filled by him and overflow in love from that place of abundance. I can only imagine that it will take the rest of my life here to merely scratch the surface of what that means.