Slow Down
August 9, 2020
Big Picture
Although the Corona virus has caused many things to be shut down, for many of us, life has been even more fast paced than normal. As the months pass us by, we can get overwhelmed with the pressure to make up for canceled plans and lost time by replacing it with a sense of busyness and racing thoughts of how to productively salvage our year. Moreover, increasing tensions in social, political, and pandemic related matters have further provoked our felt obligation to fix things. This can cause us to be like Martha, from Luke 10:38-42, who was “worried and upset about many things” (Luke 10:41). But God is reminding us today, that it’s time for us to slow down. There is a lot going on and much to accomplish, but “few things are needed – or indeed only one” (Luke 10:42), and that’s to sit at the feet of Jesus like, Martha’s sister, Mary.
Sermon Recap
Oftentimes, the tactic of Satan is to speed things up, pushing us to take shortcuts, and avoid taking the long route by any means necessary. He does this because his best work is accomplished when we are moving too fast. We see this played out in the Garden of Eden when he tempted Adam and Eve to bypass God’s authority. Why wait until God them gives permission when they can have the knowledge they seek immediately? Satan tricked them into making a fast decision that only led to a fast demise. If we are not careful, we will find ourselves moving at the pace of a world that promotes fast money, instant gratification, and easy satisfaction.
The pace of the kingdom of God is different than the pace of the world. God’s miracles are found on the slow, consistent, faithful, and steady track. This is seen in the journey God took Moses and the Israelites on for forty years in the desert, the path Joseph took for thirteen years in captivity, and the decade David spent in the wilderness. Even when God moves suddenly in our lives, it’s preceded by a season of patience and endurance through hard times. If you feel like things are going slow for you right now, don’t force it by rushing, because you are right where God wants you to be in order for Him to do a miracle in your life.
The world has so much that it wants us to give our attention to, but what it considers important is seldomly urgent, and what it considers urgent is seldomly importantly. We have to stop allowing the culture to set our pace and start allowing the word of God and the Holy Spirit to set our pace. Jesus encountered this urgency from the people in the death of Lazarus in Luke 11:1-44. They pressed him to get to Lazarus quickly before he died, but Jesus had his own plans and moved at the rhythm of God’s will. Getting healed is one thing but being resurrected from death after decomposing in the grave for four days was unprecedented. Lazarus would have never experienced such a glorious miracle had not Jesus moved at the pace of his Father and not man. You will experience the miracle of God when you move at the pace of God.
Maybe the news and your social media feed are making you feel like everyone is ahead of you, telling you how to respond to things, as you try to catch up from behind. It’s time to turn around, repent toward God, and watch as God sets you as the pacemaker in leading others to follow God. Let us be like David, whom God himself testified about, saying, “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do” (Acts 13:22).
Pastor Travis S. Jones
Travis S. Jones is the lead pastor at Motivation Church in Richmond, V.A. which him and his wife Brittany planted with the mission of investing their lives into the South Richmond/North Chesterfield area sharing the hope of Jesus and a motivation to live! The message they have is simple, “God can take broken people, and build them back together.” Having 10 years experience in full-time ministry they embrace church as a diverse, energetic, fun and Jesus centered life.