It’s always wise to match your pace in life with God’s. Getting ahead or behind is never good for his Kingdom!

“Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved.

 In quietness and confidence is your strength.

But you would have none of it.”

Isaiah 30:15 NLT

All of us who rush feverishly through life like the sound of this command… we just don’t like it enough to obey and accept it!

The breathing room we all desperately need is hard for ‘busy’ bodies to stop long enough to receive. We appear to like our schedules over-full, our rest stops decidedly brief, our emotional fuel level perpetually hovering right over ‘empty.’

Yet if we are not careful, we miss some important consequences of our flat-out pace:

1. We forget that what we chase in life, sometimes turns on us and begins chasing at our heels!
2. We forget that what we seek so aggressively will often soon define us!
3. And we forget that our hectic schedules reveal a great deal of our person theology.

God knows this. He destined and programmed some to walk through life at a slightly slower pace than the ‘movers and shakers.’ He knew the ‘slow pokes’ would often be in the fast lane holding up those not afraid of speeding tickets.

But even the slow and steady movers still pass right by the rest areas of life themselves! It’s a common ailment in a society that sets the tempo faster than even the fastest can keep up.

Since the busy bodies and not-so-busy bodies all need to get the rest, confidence and strength that God offers, let me offer a little help with some statements to chew on this week.

• We can all become addicted to distractions.
• The urgent and the important aren’t always the same thing.
• We may be trying to do more for God than with Him.
• Our busy schedule may be our attempt to cover our busy and shallow souls.
• We have a hard time giving anything to anyone when we are empty ourselves.
• God needs more than just productive people… He needs transformed people and that transformation takes some time ‘off the clock.’
• Don’t forget God’s hacks for matching his pace – Sabbath rest and the Word of God.

Remember, our greatest ministry is the presence we bring to others having been with Jesus. So carve out the time necessary for this transfer to happen.