SLOW DOWN! 

Week 43
 
Col 3:12-17
 
We all like a challenge and there are a number of television programs where contestants race to achieve a goal or find something before time runs out. Treasure Hunt with Anneka Rice used to be a favourite of ours. We would watch as Anneka, in her helicopter, followed a set of clues searching for often cryptic directions to her next location. In her race to beat the clock, she would sometimes fail to see the clues that were obvious to her television audience.
 
Our lives can be similar to Anneka`s experience. Speed seems to be the driving force for many and I confess that I have taken part in the race of life in the past as I tried to drive quicker and quicker towards a goal.
 
Unfortunately, the harder we try to make things happen more quickly, often running around chasing our tails, the more likely we are to make mistakes (and mine are many!). The capacity of our brains is amazing, but we simply aren’t wired to cope with the amount of information we often subject ourselves to. In driving ourselves faster we make decision-making more difficult and leave little or no room to satisfy our real needs. Even as I write these words, on a Saturday morning as usual, I`m conscious that I have a list of things to do today. Some are work-related, some are church things, and some are personal but I already know that I will not complete them all.
 
I have also found myself wanting my spiritual growth to speed up, knowing that I`m only a fraction of what God wants me to be. I read the passage in Colossians thinking, yes, I do need more compassion and kindness; humility? oops; gentleness and patience, okay probably; then there`s tolerance and forgiveness too. When am I going to display all these things I ask. And then, to make my list even longer Paul adds “love” to it. How much time does the apostle think I`ve got!
 
Thankfully, God reminded me recently that our transformation to the likeness of Christ is not a quick fix but a lifetime of quiet and often gradual change. It’s not a sprint but a marathon and sometimes it’s only as we look back that we can see just how far we’ve already come. Ecclesiastes 9:11 reminds us that “fast runners do not always win the race”, and 1 Corinthians 9 that we should run “in such a way as to win the prize”. To do that, we need to slow down and listen to what God wants to say to us.
 
Colossians 3:15 is one of my favourite verses. “The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this peace that God has called you together in the one body. And be thankful.” (Good News version). Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus offers us His help to know the right things to do in our lives but if we are going full steam ahead all the time how can we expect to hear His voice?
 
I had been impatient for quicker change but God reminded me it’s a journey that will take a lifetime.
 
Prayer:  Father, thank you that you know us intimately and that your timing for everything in our lives is perfect. Please help us to turn daily to you for your guidance in every aspect of our lives.