{"product_id":"pause-and-ponder","title":"Pause and Ponder","description":"\u003cp\u003eLife is so busy that we often find it hard to stop and reflect on how we can grow closer to the Lord Jesus.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book contains fifty-two short reflections on various aspects of our spiritual life. With only about 600 words, each one can be read in just two or three minutes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe following extract from chapter 6 \"Be Anxious for Nothing\" will give you a good idea of the style of the book.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"EVERYONE feels anxious from time to time. It is a normal response to stressful situations.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHowever, for some people, anxiety can become severe and prolonged. According to recent research, as many as one in ten people in the UK suffer anxiety to such a degree that it interferes with their everyday lives. Excessive anxiety is often associated with other psychiatric conditions, such as depression, and is rapidly becoming a problem of epidemic proportions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe word “anxious” is derived from a Greek verb that means ‘to be divided’ or ‘distracted’. In Latin, the same word is translated \u003cem\u003eanxius\u003c\/em\u003e, which carries the notion of choking or strangling. The word also appears in German as \u003cem\u003ewurgen\u003c\/em\u003e, from which we derive our English word ‘worry’.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo, anxiety is a terrible menace. It threatens to divide and break up its victims, to strangle all breath out of its sufferers, leaving them for dead!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Master spoke about anxiety in his Parable of the Sower. Regarding the seed sown among thorns, Jesus said, “the anxieties of this age … entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful” (Mark 4:19, Young’s Literal Translation). Anxiety grows up around us like thorns that will eventually choke our spiritual lives if left unmanaged and neglected.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChiefly, anxiety is related to what may – or may not – happen in the future, whether pending or distant. And it has three principal drivers which further exasperate the suffering: insecurity, helplessness, and isolation. Insecurity is a feeling of lack of confidence, helplessness of having no help or protection, and isolation of being alone and cut-off.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow is the time to pause what we’re doing for a moment, ponder our lives and prepare for the coming of our Lord.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Living Ink Bookstore","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45335930961990,"sku":null,"price":32.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0742\/2525\/4470\/files\/ff164dc6-2826c9_7782fa48c6844b5781bddb229cd1b022_mv2.jpg?v=1783940807","url":"https:\/\/www.livinginkbooks.co.nz\/products\/pause-and-ponder","provider":"Living Ink Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}