01 Jun What’s Your Hurry?

One of my favorite quotes:

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Patient Trust

I was talking to a dear friend recently about the pursuit of her dream, her calling…her purpose. She said, “It’s just not happening fast enough for me.” Her remark stirred something in me in kind of an unsettling way. Probably because I’ve been there. Probably because I’ve made the unwise choice to hurry more times than I care to remember. And probably because I finally learned—from the consequences of hurrying—to wait on God. Which is the only truly wise way to wait.

Here’s the deal: We cannot hurry God.

We cannot hurry what God is doing. And if God is truly doing it, then he has a God-time, a God-pace, and a God-speed at which he unfolds the things He’s doing. And that is seldom to our liking because God doesn’t move fast enough for us. Surely, you’ve had this thought, too—God, You are not moving fast enough for me and I’m tired of waiting. And therein lies the problem… a trust problem, and that’s our problem. So, we must learn to trust the slow work of God, because—

God is not in a hurry.
God will not readjust his pace to keep up with us.
God is never wrong.
God is only, always right.

God never breaks a sweat. Know what I mean? He mostly does not move as fast as we do; and He’s sure not hollering after us, “Hold on! Wait up!” Unfortunately, the culture we live in creates a hurry-up-do-it-now and can’t-wait-must-get-it-now world, picking up speed by the minute. We want what we want, and we want everything right now (i.e. drive-through food, instant messaging, online shopping, Amazon Prime same day delivery… you name it). We have zero patience or tolerance for a slow pace, or even a slower pace. Hustle and hurry are the acceptable speeds for our generation— and that, my friend, is going to be the death of us and our dreams if we don’t recalibrate under the beautiful way of Jesus, who said, “Follow me…”

“Follow me.” It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a command for how a follower of Christ is supposed to live as his disciple—every day (Mark 1:16-20). As we follow, we grow into where we he wills us to go. But so often we gallop on ahead of God and get caught in the Speed Trap—we do what we want to do, and then ask God to come from behind us and bless what we’ve hurried into; or we beg his help to get out of a mess we’ve made.

Sometimes, my Speed Trap looks like:

• Doing before being (I need to do this so that I can become that), rather than being before doing (being still before God; intimate with Him, trusting and content in Him instead of hyperventilating into all the doing and striving).
• Not slowing down to think and pray things through thoroughly with God and wait on His lead.
• Not getting wise, godly, objective counsel.
• Letting my feelings override my pace, and following my untrustworthy heart (Jeremiah 17:9)
• Letting the ticking of the clock stir up my anxiety about the passing of time.
• Ignoring God’s wisdom.
• Pride: The I’ve-Got-This syndrome, when I force things through in my flesh.

You can be sure that God will always lead you in the best way and at the best pace so that you don’t get caught in the Speed Trap. This is the way of God: Get behind Me; it’s safer there. Let Me lead you; I know where I’m going, and you don’t; I can see further ahead than you can. I’ve seen the end from the beginning and everything in between. Keep in step with Me and, for the love, trust Me.

Our flesh is in a hurry, but our soul is not.

Our flesh is willing to settle for the superficial in just about everything—spiritually, relationally, emotionally, physically. But it’s the slow walk that takes you deeper; the slow dance that takes you deeper still with God…in intimacy and insight. That’s what our soul craves: the deep and intimate things of God. As Chuck Swindoll wrote, “Our Lord…longs for us to explore and experience that which is beyond the obvious. Some of His best truths, like priceless treasures, are hidden in the depths most folks never take the time to search out. Our loss!… Tragically, precious little in this hurried and hassled age promotes such intimacy… No one is ready to take on the depths unless he or she is fed up with the superficial” (Intimacy with the Almighty, selected, pp 16-19).

The greatest blessings of my life have not come quickly; they’ve come in God’s time. Sometimes out of the ordinary, the uncommon and unexpected, and sometimes when I thought I was “past the age”. But these blessings were always unrushed, unhurried, unforced—when I was steadily plodding along with my eyes on Jesus. Here’s another gem from Chuck Swindoll, “When God is in it, it flows. When flesh is in it…it’s forced. If He is in it, it’s remarkable how approval will be granted, how growing interest will percolate, and how timing will fall right into place. It will come together almost in spite of you” (Moses: A man of Selfless Dedication).

Gosh, that’s good. And so true.

❤️ Something to Think About

What’s your hurry, sweet friend? Where are you lacking in patient trust— the kind that trusts the slow work of God? Are you engaging with God about the speed at which you’re living your life? I encourage you to think that through with the Lord—and ask Him. Then slow down and wait. Maybe even walk away from the thing you’re trying to speed up; leave it in God’s capable hands and just let it be for a while. He will grant you the grace to slow your pace… and wait on His timing.

Sometimes what God has for us is not ready when we want it…and then again, sometimes we’re not ready. He has good reason to keep us waiting, so don’t try to hurry it along. When we’re in a hurry we’re prone to miss things, to overlook things. We force things to happen that likely don’t turn out as we’d hoped.

• If we hurry to force a good thing, we could be missing the best thing God had planned for us…if only we had waited.
• If we hurry into a business deal or partnership, we’re likely to overlook things that could end up costing us in the long run.
• If we’re in a hurry to get married, we’re bound to miss red flags, and ignore things that could likely turn into problems later.
• When we try to hurry our healing, and not slow down to heal, we’ll likely relapse.
• And do I really need to mention “Get-Rich-Quick” schemes? Yeah, no…
• And whatever we do in a hurry might very well end up setting us back in the thing we were in such a hurry to do.

One More Thing

God will not speed up his plans or pace to please us. And He will also not stop us from running on ahead of Him. Because sometimes that’s the only way we’ll learn not to hurry. And when He is slow in answering us—slower than we’d like—it’s because He knows best and is protecting His plans for us.

And, what if you were in a hurry and ran ahead of God and now, you’re struggling? I’ve been there, too. It’s never too late to slow down and get back in line with God and give it to Him. He’s waiting for you! He is Redeemer God; nothing is beyond God’s ability to redeem. He is Repairer of Broken Walls (Isaiah 58:12); nothing is beyond God’s ability to repair and restore—broken hearts, broken lives, broken relationships. He brings beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:3); He forgives, redeems and restores. He excels in bringing messages of His glory out of the redeemed mistakes of our lives. I know. Because He did it in mine—and made a ministry out of my many messes.

Jesus always leads us in the best way, on the right path, at the right pace—with grace, so that we arrive where he’s leading us… (you got it), at the right time.

So, slow down, my friend, and reset your pace with Jesus. Don’t panic. Get focused. Be wise and prayerful and pursue God. You will not miss out on His best for you. “No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). That’s a promise!

I sure hope you found this encouraging and helpful! And I’d really like to know the ways you’ve struggled with hurry, and/or freed yourself from the Speed Trap.

Until next week, don’t forget that you are greatly and dearly loved by The King. And let’s live our beautiful, ordinary lives like it!

I love you!
xo – P❤️