Slower I Go: Walking at the Pace of JesusSample

Day 1 - Rid Me Of My Quickness

“Rid me of my quickness, I’ll be soon to listen.”

Are you preparing to speed read right now? Glance through these words, click the button to go to the scripture, and then close out of your Bible App? We’ve all been there. Slowness is not our natural nature - especially when it comes to God’s word. We live in a world that values achievement, speed, accolades, and knowledge. Why sit and read your Bible when you can listen to it on the way to work? It’s like killing 2 birds with 1 stone right? Right?

But - is this truly sustainable? Is it truly helping us become more like Jesus? And ultimately - what would Jesus think about our quickness? Our hurry? Our rush?

Walter Adams said, “To walk with Jesus is to walk with a slow, unhurried pace. Hurry is the death of prayer.” And that may be our answer to the question above.

If you are still reading at this point instead of rushing along to the next thing - we honor you for that. We are so thankful that you decided to make an active decision to slow down. There’s no shame or condemnation here - just gratitude for your eyes scanning these words or listening to them out loud.

In his book, “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” (a huge inspiration to us & a help in writing this devotional), John Mark Comer gives us all a glimpse into the timeline of time itself and how we became a society that lives and dies by our calendars and clocks. Interestingly enough, before the clock (what Comer calls “artificial time”), we simply listened to our bodies or looked for the sun to know when to rise. And next came Edison with the light bulb, creating the possibility to continue work after the sun went down. Comer presents data that before Edison the average person slept 11 hours. Now, at least in America, the average is 7.

While there are plenty of potential problems with this for our mental, emotional, and physical state - we want to focus particularly on one state: the spiritual. In their song, “Slower I Go” - SEU Worship sings the line, “Rid me of my quickness, I’ll be soon to listen”.

If you spend enough time on it - it’s actually an incredibly profound line. Unless our quickness is taken care of - how can we ever hear from God? When will we ever have time to listen to Him over talking at Him? Or perhaps - not even talking to Him at all.

Psalm 23:1-3 says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he refreshes my soul.”

There are so many places across scripture that discuss our Lord as a Shepherd and, we, as His sheep. It’s a comforting description, knowing that Shepherds were protectors and guides for their sheep - even in the most desolate places. Today, however, we want to dive into the word “refreshes”. Think of something that refreshes you. Perhaps it’s a cold sweet tea on a warm day. Or a nap after Church. Or some sweet alone time if you are an introvert! In our English language, to refresh can be so many things to so many people. Yet, if we dive into the Hebrew language, we will find that the word “refresh” is derived from the Hebrew word “shub” or שׁוּב which means “to turn back, to return”.

To return. To turn back.

Quiet waters. Green pastures. These two items are things of rest and provision. When the Lord refreshes our soul, we return to Him and His original design for us. He turns us back to rest.

We have to be willing to sit in the tension and ask the Lord, “What does rest truly look like for me?”

It’s okay if you haven’t rested a ton lately. Truth be told, we haven’t either. But today, we are making a commitment to let the Lord refresh our souls, to let the Lord turn us back to Him. We can only hear the Lord’s voice if we are willing to sit in His presence unhurried.

So, today, we challenge you to join us in taking 5 minutes to rest and just sit in the presence of the Lord. Set a timer on your phone and challenge yourself to just sit with the Lord and focus your thoughts on Him. You don’t have to ask Him for anything or pray anything at all. Instead - just sit in His presence and everything you feel. Let your thoughts wander - just speak Psalm 23:3 over yourself, “Lord You restore my soul.”

Come, join us right now, as we slow down our souls and minds to let the Lord restore us for the day or night ahead.

Then, go in peace, friends.