A Word for Our Arbor Family
It’s easy to get caught up in the ‘rush’ of life. Everything happens so fast. We have apps and AI to help make it happen NOW. We don’t have to wait for anything anymore. One click, and Amazon sends our latest order straight to our door the same day. HEB brings our groceries to our car within minutes of our arrival at curbside. If Chick-fil-A makes us wait more than 90 seconds at the drive-through, we wonder what’s gone wrong. Seems we’ve forgotten Aesop’s fable about the tortoise and the hare.
Without effort to the contrary, rushing becomes our default mode. Speaking from experience, it’s not the mode you want to be in. Rushing leads to all kinds of problems: worry, anxiety, mistakes, accidents, and burnout. So how do we ‘slow down’ and ‘wait patiently’ for Him? How do we ‘waste time’ with Jesus, just being still in His presence? You’d think it would be simple, but we find it harder to do these days. It’s just no longer our default mode.
Psalm 37:7 (NIV) says ‘Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.’ Psalm 46:10 (NIV) says, ‘Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’ In Exodus 14:14 (NIV), Moses tells the Israelites, ‘The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.’ Seems ‘be still’ wasn’t meant as a suggestion, but instead as a condition, a state of trust.
In Malachi 3:10, God told us to trust Him with our money; we bring the tithe into the storehouse, and He will ‘throw open the floodgates of heaven,’ pouring out more blessings than we have room to store. If ‘time is money,’ then why do we trust God with money, but go through life in such a rush, clearly demonstrating that we don’t trust Him with our time?
We must do both. Many of us have seen how the Lord blesses our finances when we trust Him with our giving. Maybe it’s time to trust Him with our time (pun intended). Let’s give it a try! Slow down, ‘waste time’ with Jesus, and let Him take care of all those problems we think we need to rush to solve on our timeline instead of His. Let’s switch our default mode back to ‘Be still.'
Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’
Without effort to the contrary, rushing becomes our default mode. Speaking from experience, it’s not the mode you want to be in. Rushing leads to all kinds of problems: worry, anxiety, mistakes, accidents, and burnout. So how do we ‘slow down’ and ‘wait patiently’ for Him? How do we ‘waste time’ with Jesus, just being still in His presence? You’d think it would be simple, but we find it harder to do these days. It’s just no longer our default mode.
Psalm 37:7 (NIV) says ‘Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.’ Psalm 46:10 (NIV) says, ‘Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’ In Exodus 14:14 (NIV), Moses tells the Israelites, ‘The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.’ Seems ‘be still’ wasn’t meant as a suggestion, but instead as a condition, a state of trust.
In Malachi 3:10, God told us to trust Him with our money; we bring the tithe into the storehouse, and He will ‘throw open the floodgates of heaven,’ pouring out more blessings than we have room to store. If ‘time is money,’ then why do we trust God with money, but go through life in such a rush, clearly demonstrating that we don’t trust Him with our time?
We must do both. Many of us have seen how the Lord blesses our finances when we trust Him with our giving. Maybe it’s time to trust Him with our time (pun intended). Let’s give it a try! Slow down, ‘waste time’ with Jesus, and let Him take care of all those problems we think we need to rush to solve on our timeline instead of His. Let’s switch our default mode back to ‘Be still.'
Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’