Slow Down

"We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life."
--Oswald Chambers

So we think that God is going to use us to be Joan of Arcs or Billy Grahams or Bonos and is taking His time to build us up into this powerful megatool that will land somewhere on the outskirts, if not directly in the limelight.

But as we grow and understand God more, and listen in and closer to what He is saying and how He is shaping us through His Word, we begin to realize that while we're are sitting around waiting for a record contract so we can send our songs of hope to hundreds of thousands across America, or waiting for the $100,000 to go to Africa and save orphans, or waiting to build the newest wing to expand our small church property, we might be missing out on the ways God is, and, or wants to use us in the present.

All we really need is to focus on God. If we focus entirely on the end product, or whatever culmination of life goodness we hope to amount to, we miss out on the journey, and all the places God wants to use us along the way.

Jack Johnson wrote a song called Inaudible Melodies. Give it a listen:


I like the part of it that says:

But in the long run we have found
Silent films are full of sound
Inaudibly free
Slow down everyone
You're moving too fast
Frames can't catch you when
You're moving like that

When I think about my life and how busy I can be at times, it is interesting to consider the concept that maybe I'm moving so fast that I fail to hear the sounds of something I have written off as never making sound at all. I focus on forming a band, or trying to get signed, and just trying to and trying to and trying to, that I miss out on the sounds that are audible only to those who care to listen. I started asking myself, "so do you just not care to listen?"

I don't think I want to be that guy -- the guy who blasts through life, always wanting the next thing, never really living, never really thriving, never getting caught on the film that captures the actions of those making a difference for God's people. I need to remember to slow down and ask God how I can sing glory to Him, right now.

As we run down our well-intentioned paths to whatever it is we are fixated on, we have to remember to soak up the intricacies and truths that are there to be absorbed. We have to remember to show God's love and share His promises to the disheartened. We have to embrace the ways in which God is using all of us, in this very moment.

Slow down.

"Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak..."
James 1:19

(thanks Kristen for the good find in My Utmost For His Highest)