God opened the door for me to escape to Virginia to enjoy a weekend with my family. It forced me to make a value-based decision: what do I say “yes” and “no” to? When it comes to faith and family, I’m all in. My father taught me that the best way to spell love is T-I-M-E. Love makes time. As my Heavenly Father taught my grandfather to invest his life and love in my father, my father’s lifetime investment in me shaped me into a father who invests my life and love by slowing down and making time for my sons.
Everywhere I go, people are in a hurry. In the process of pursuing fastness, we fail to slow down and enjoy God’s prize possession: the people He’s placed around us. As I quietly slipped out this morning to get a cup of McDonald’s coffee, I drove around three different roundabouts because they eliminated the stop signs and stop lights. Why? Because people don’t like to stop. When I got to McDonalds, they had installed two big machines to eliminate human contact. Push buttons instead of talk with real people. Why? It speeds things up so we don’t have to wait or connect with God’s prize possessions.
But as I am noticing the pervasive push to speed up everything because we hate to wait for anything or anyone, I’m notice the devastating impact speed is having on people. We’re becoming increasing intolerant of people and waiting. I noticed this yesterday when I was shopping at Wal-Mart with my kids. I kept switching check out lines because the workers were so busy talking and laughing with the customers that the lines weren’t moving. Instead of enjoying how they loved their job and their customers, I was frustrated beyond words, and I had to keep changing lanes because of the tension I felt from having to wait. Speed is teaching us to become intolerant of waiting, and our anxiety grows when we have to slow down. Instead of learning to wait and enjoy the time and people around us, we try to eliminate all forms of waiting.
In His strategic creativeness, God has personal ways to teach us to slow down, to wait on Him, and to enjoy the people around us. He’s surrounded me with people of all ages who aren’t in a hurry. Please don’t blame society or people or technology for our intolerance for waiting. Kids, young adults, and older adults are all craving for us to slow down, notice them, and invest our time and hearts in them.
Last night, as I sat around the table for hours with young adults, I was so impressed that none of them were in a hurry. They went out of their way to find each other and invest in one another. They were not in a hurry, and the longer we sat and talked, the deeper the conversations and heart-sharing became. They were surprised because I kept affirming them for how they slowed down and made extended time for one another. But this is just how they lived. How refreshing!
The longer you linger with God, the deeper your relationship will become. The longer and more frequently you linger and invest in building connected relationships with people, the deeper your relationships become. On the other hand, the more you try to pack into our days, and speed them up, the shallower you and your relationships will become. Since God has placed eternity in the hearts of His people, you have all the time you need each day to slow down and enjoy God and to love His people around you.
Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold. Instead, set your pace so it matches God’s purpose for your life. Invest deeply and frequently in the people He’s given you to impact for His Kingdom. If you do, your friends will keep showing up because you’ve invested so much their lives. They’ll be with you for life and eternity. Let’s all get in the habit of dive-bombing our friends. Whenever God gives you the nudge, opens the door, or challenges you to leave home, just go. You’ll be blessed, and you’ll be setting in motion a pattern of obedience and relationally investing in family and friends that will be passed on for generations.
How does your current pace match God’s purpose for your life?
How is your pace impacting your spiritual and relational connections?
Slow down.
Make time.
Enjoy God and His people.
This is the picture revealed through the Mary and Martha story. Do we not see that we have Jesus in front of us in each other? Are we still attempting to please and serve one another, rather than to simply value each other with our presence in recognition that we have nothing to prove and everything to share? Time is the fruit!