Time to Take Stock

16 August 2026

By Pastor John - Senior Pastor

It’s August. The days are short and the mornings cold. Only yesterday leaves began falling from the trees. A few days before that we welcomed in the New Year. How has 2026 been going? We often stand back and take stock of our life at the start of the year, when everything is a little more relaxed. But maybe August is better time to do this as deadlines loom and the pace of life is more frantic than we would like it to be.

Maybe this week is the best time to take a long hard look at the pattern of your life. Chuck Swindoll asks the following questions that I’d encourage you to use this week to assess the sustainability of your lifestyle.

Is my pace of life really that different from last year?

Am I enjoying most of my activities or just enduring them?

Have I deliberately taken time on several occasions this year for personal restoration?

Do I give myself permission to relax, to have leisure, to be quiet?

Would other people think I am working too many hours and/or living under too much stress?

Am I becoming boring and preoccupied?

Am I staying physically fit? Do I consider my body important enough to maintain a nourishing diet, to give it regular exercise, to get enough sleep, to shed that excess weight?

How is my sense of humour?

Is God being glorified by the schedule I keep… or is He getting the leftovers of my energy?

Am I getting dangerously close to ‘burn out’?

Our life need not be a mad rush from one activity to another. As Swindoll says, ‘Being alone and resting for a while is not selfish; it is Christlike (Mark 6:30-32)’.