Slow down, you move too fast.

Over the last couple of weeks I think God has been trying to get my attention. A series of thematically related moments have unfolded, supposedly happening at random, all designed to draw me to the same conclusion.

It started by listening to a Pete Scazzero podcast whilst working, about how God does things slowly. Both in the lives of characters in the Bible and in our lives. The next moment was a conversation with Kate about the need to walk slowly with God in the dreams and plans he has put in our hearts. She reminds me well, that God isn’t in a hurry like we often are.

And then there was the trip I have taken over the last 36 hours to get to Colorado for a conference and then Mexico next week.

Things started out well enough.

We were taxiing out of Kingsford Smith Airport on time and poised for clearance. And then we suddenly stopped. The minutes ticked by and by. Then the captain broadcast to the cabin. We have a problem with our paperwork. Shouldn’t take too long. About an hour later, we were told that the paperwork was sorted but in the meantime, a warning light had illuminated. So back to the gate we went, when they could find an open gate. All up, after paperwork and mechanically work, we left Sydney 3 hours late. I knew that I would miss my connecting flight and would have a long wait in LAX.

We arrived 3 hours late in LAX and instead of the short immigration lines of 6am we had the bumper time of 9am with multiple other planes arriving. All up about 1000 people were in line for just a handful of open booths. The line moved slowly. Really slowly. Painfully slow and then all of a sudden, it was morning break for all the agents and they just left. Except for one solitary booth. The line stopped. For ages. It took 2 hours all up to get through.

I automatically got booked on a connecting flight that was the following night. In about 30 hours time. Now that would have been a long wait. I managed to get a standby that afternoon and felt like the tide might be changing. The long wait was over but as that final taxi happened, again we stopped. The pilot apologised “We seemed to have over-fueled the plane, we need to wait 20 minutes to burn of some gas”

Often God is speaking but we are slow to hear because we are so rapid towards activity. We want to speed things up but He is committed to slowing us down. For my personally type, slowing down is excruciating. So very painful. But it’s how God mostly moves in our lives. Slowing us down, as he slowly changes us and performs deep and purposeful things in us and through us. Lord help me to a slow and steady gait so that I might walk in step with you.