“In our rushing, bulls in china shops, we break our own lives.” Ann Voskamp

Isaiah 28:16 – Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a  precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation;  ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.”

I don’t have to rush? Simply because I BELIEVE in Jesus?  That sounds too good to be true!

Belief actually means much more than intellectual assent.  The Hebrew word a-mán (Strongs # 539) has to do with CLINGING to and being supported by a firm foundation.  Picture a baby gripping a nursemaid who is not going to let him go.  When we are settled in our heart and mind that Jesus is the ‘precious cornerstone’ or foundation of the universe, then we don’t have to rush/haste/speed/or run in frenzy-mode.  Now that is GOOD NEWS!!!

Why do we rush?  I don’t know about you, but I have led a life of grim haste in order to squeeze out MORE TIME for me.  As a member of the human race, my natural default is SELF; I try to maximize circumstances to suit me. And for most of my life I have lived with the false notion that I was in charge, in control of my life and that if only I were disciplined and intentional enough, then I could …… speed things up…… in order to…… bank extra minutes…… to spend on……. ME, MYSELF and I.

Welcome to the condition, so aptly described by Ann Voskamp in the first quote.  Thinking that we are helping ourselves, we cause harm by rushing. We add to the illusion that WE know what is best, that our decisions about time are wise.

As I grow day by day, a member of God’s forever family, having been ‘given new birth into a living hope’(1 Peter 1:3), I’m wanting to focus on God’s sovereign control over every molecule of my life.

Here’s how that God- quality brings me peace.

Yesterday, we drove for eight hours to arrive in Winchester, VA for a wedding.  En route we pulled off to find a SHEETZ gas station.  They usually have clean bathrooms and plentiful sodas.  But THIS service station proved difficult to spot once we exited the interstate. It was NOT well marked.  So first we drove in one direction, dodging the ‘Friday-afternoon-in-the –summer’ traffic.  Mike gripped the steering wheel in frustration at the minutes we were ‘losing’ and did a U-turn where he could to drive in the other direction which led out of town.  BACK again in the other direction, retracing our steps, slowed down by all that traffic ‘personally placed across our path to annoy us!’  No…to show us how ugly our impatience and desire to control LIFE looks like.  We eventually found the SHEETZ and refreshed ourselves.   

What I now tell myself once I repent of this self-centered response and attitude is that if I truly believe that God is sovereign over time and circumstances, then obstacles that ‘slow us down’ are part of His divine plan, meant for our good.

More than an impatience problem, I have a belief problem.  For that I repent.  Lord, thank You for the reminder that I can relax, slow down and go at Your pace because it’s YOU who are upholding the universe and in YOU, I have my being.  Thank you!