“We wear busyness as a badge, like an honor roll bumper sticker.”

A thought by Mark Batterson, (2015-10-06) from his book, If: Trading Your If Only Regrets for God's What If Possibilities (Kindle Location 1628). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

That is so true in this city, Los Angeles, that Margaret and I live in. It is so fun to sit in my one lane on the freeway and watch people move in and out trying to get ahead. I use the app WAZE to make sure we get to where we are going the fastest time possible. Even as a retiree, it seems that I am busy.

Mark says, “Come on, isn’t it rather ironic that we get incredibly frustrated when a cross-country flight is delayed ten minutes— a flight that travels at one hundred times the speed of a covered wagon and gets us to the other side of America with beverage service? For the love of Lewis and Clark, quit complaining about minor travel delays!”

He goes on, “Our patience has worn thin, and it affects every arena of life. We want what our parents spent decades working for and saving for, in a fraction of the time, with a fraction of the effort. We’re so driven to get ahead that one of the hardest commands to keep is keeping the Sabbath holy. After all, we can’t afford to fall behind. But that’s how we fall and fall behind.”

So true. He then says, “Nothing slows us down like trying to get ahead of God. Remember when Moses tried to expedite God’s plan by killing an Egyptian taskmaster? That little shortcut backfired into a forty-year delay! Listen, I’m as driven as they come. I want to get as far as I can, as fast as I can, and I want to get there yesterday! But we’ve got to enjoy the journey too, by God’s grace. After all, the journey is the destination.”

It really is. There is so much out there to enjoy and to experience but it probably will take some slowing down.

So what is pushing you today?

Comments

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