Whoa, Nellie!

From a book on prayer I’m reading during my devotional time:

“We often race through life without processing all that we are experiencing. We need to wait on God so our hearts can catch up with our actions.”

Efficiency and fast moving have always been two of my highest values. I’m not Type A, but I was raised by one, and it affected me greatly. I hate being late. I like things to clip along. The phrase “cut to the chase” ministers to my soul.

Kevin and I were newly married when we traveled to Texas with his family—10 of us at the time—to attend his grandma’s funeral. After driving all day, we arrived at our hotel a little before midnight. I was not driving or tending to young children like my sister-in-law, but I was exhausted. In my family, you check into a hotel, stroll your luggage briskly to your room, settle in as quickly and efficiently as possible, and fall into bed. Even if the only place we were going was to sleep, we made good time doing it.

This was not how it worked in Kevin’s family. We stood in the hotel lobby for about a half-hour. There was no trouble checking in; we were just loitering there in the lobby. We watched some TV. Some of the men went outside and tossed a football around. At midnight. Finally, we moseyed casually to our rooms, lingering again before shutting our respective doors, and at last called it a day. It drove me nuts, and I was sure all that lollygagging had caused my poor father to roll over in his grave—rapidly and efficiently.

As I’ve prayed for patience over the years, I’ve thought of it in terms of patience with other people and circumstances. It had not occurred to me that my biggest test of patience is with God.

I’ve been on a dead sprint the past eight or nine years. Certainly four children have slowed me down, but they’ve also contributed to my frantic pace. When you’re juggling kids, a husband, a home, friends, and a consuming—though wonderful—job, there’s not a lot of time for smellin’ the roses. I was thankful the roses were there and occasionally gave them a backward wave as I dashed by them on my way to a meeting. God did a lot of work in my heart in those years, and I was aware of some of it, but I didn’t give myself time to stop and rest in it. Even my lessons I want to learn quickly and then get on with it. (Whatever “it” is.)

I also read today: “What may look like a loss of time is really only time multiplied on your behalf. God is able to do things with more efficiency than you are.” (Really?!)

“It is in waiting that we make room for God.”

God is calling me to wait on Him. To be patient with Him. To unlace my track shoes, slow my sprint to a saunter, stop looking for the next big thing, and simply wait. Anybody need to join me?