No Hurry

Things do not happen in our spiritual life with breathtaking speed.  God is not in any hurry to get things done which we figure should have been done yesterday, or last week.  Look at how long it took for Abraham and Sarah to have a child.  Consider the time between Elijah drinking water from the Wadi of Cherith and the cloud of rain which settled over Mount Carmel.  By the time Jesus showed up in Bethlehem, the ancient story of a coming Messiah was mostly an asterisk in the Hebrew narrative.  Over and over we find examples of the way God takes His time in getting His things done.  Unfortunately, we do not work that way.  

Years ago a popular singing group called "Alabama" sang a song with lyrics which said, "I'm in a hurry to get things done, I rush and rush till life's no fun, I'm in a hurry and I don't know why."  We are more like the Alabama song than the models set forth in Scripture.  When it comes to prayer we are more into instant gratification. We are short of patience when it comes time to sit in silence so that we might hear the quiet voice of God stirring in our heart. He says, "Wait," and we say, "Hurry."  

When we take a serious look at what is behind us, we are able to see the plan of God unfolding to bring us to the present moment.  It may be a way that takes us to some mountain like the one in Moriah where Abraham felt that he should offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God.  When God begins to move us in our journey, or bring us to some place we have never been, it is not usually like going from Point A to Point B, but a circuitous way which takes a while to navigate.  The challenge He offers to us is not a challenge of speed, but one of obedience and trust, one that knows He will get us where He wants us to be in the time He deems necessary to get us there.