Slow Down!
Life on the Pasture
As some of you know, I drive a fully electric car (a 2016 Mitsubishi i-MIEV, to be exact, of which only around 2,100 were ever sold in the U.S. during a 10-year span.) For me, it’s the perfect car. However, when people in other vehicles see my little car, I think they have the immediate urge to buzz past me and show off their horsepower. As a result, when I am at a stoplight and have someone next to me, I am always tempted to show off my acceleration ability and buzz away leading the pack. While this does not translate to excellent battery life, it does give me a sense of satisfaction. Fortunately, my heavy foot has not as of yet translated into a speeding ticket.
Have you ever wished that God would have put some sort of accelerator in our bodies to enable us to speed up on demand and get more accomplished? I don’t view 57 as being relatively old, but I do find myself seeming to slow down while others pass me by with all they are able to do. I wish I could produce more devotional writing, Bible studies, and in-depth lesson materials for Confirmation, religion and history classes. I want to visit more people and start new support programs. And then there are the things I see that need attention around our house. There are plenty of ideas bouncing around in my head, but sometimes it seems as if not many of them find there way to the implementation stage. And granted, one may embellish the memory of years gone past, but I seem to remember being able to accomplish more in less time.
But is speeding through things in order to accomplish more actually a good habit? Might it actually be done for self-serving motives to pad my ego as others hopefully take notice of all that I am doing?
For me, a most important question to constantly ask is, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” It is so easy to have my dreams and aspirations and assume that God is on board without actually taking the time to ask Him. It’s like King David who wanted to build the temple and the prophet Nathan telling him, “That’s a great idea. Whatever you have in mind, do it, for the Lord is with you.” (2 Samuel 7:3) But that night the Lord spoke to Nathan and informed him that David would not be the one to build the temple. He had other plans. But the Lord also promised something that David didn’t even consider. “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before Me; your throne will be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:16, NIV) That promise is fulfilled in our Lord Jesus.
Sometimes, the Lord’s answer to our question, “What do You want me to do?” will be challenging us to something we never saw ourselves doing. Sometimes it will be calling us to make changes we will have a hard time making without the Holy Spirit empowering us. Sometimes it will simply be, “I want you to do nothing more. You need to rest in Me.”
Going back to my electric car, the faster I go in an attempt to show off my car’s worth, the quicker the battery drains, and, in the long run, the less of a distance I can go before recharging. But there is a little indicator on the dash that shows me where I should keep my acceleration in order to make the most out of the battery. For us, when it comes to our walk of faith and following Jesus, that indicator is that simple prayer, “What do You want me to do,” as well as, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” And when we follow our Lord’s direction, we end up with peace and contentment in what we accomplish (or don’t). The focus is no longer on us, but on Him.
– Pastor Schmidt