God is a planner, a strategist. He is perfectly organized, has a definite flow and pace. God is more like a marathon runner than a sprinter. He has our whole lives in mind, not just tomorrow. Remember, God is never late. Never try to hurry God. “He that believeth shall not make haste” (Isa. 28:16). Urgent matters are seldom urgent. Pressure usually accompanies us when we are out of God’s pace.
Proverbs 16:9 says, “We should make plans, counting on God to direct us” (TLB). And Proverbs 16:3 tells us, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans” (NIV). Those who are lukewarm give up along the way, and cowards never even start. God is the original’s hope but the copy’s excuse. Is God your hope or your excuse?
Adopt the pace of God. His secret is patience. There’s no time lost in waiting if you’re waiting on the Lord . . . and He’s worth your time. The road to success runs uphill, so don’t expect to break any speed records. All great achievements require time. Happiness is a direction, not a destination.
During the darkest hours of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln responded to the question of whether he was sure God was on the North’s side: “I do not know: I have not thought about that. But I am very anxious to know whether we are on God’s side.” Lincoln’s contemporary, Henry Ward Beecher, once said, “The strength of a man consists in finding out the way God is going, and going that way.”
Walking at God’s pace helps establish you on the proper foundation. Nothing is permanent unless built on God’s will and Word. “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it” (Ps. 127:1). “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way” (Ps. 37:23). Never remain where God has not sent you. When God shuts and bolts the door, don’t try to get in through the window.
A Christian walking in God’s pace is like a candle—it must keep cool and burn at the same time. (But if you burn the candle at both ends, you’re not as bright as you think.)
Every great person first learned how to obey, whom to obey, and when to obey.
The place I choose, or place I shun,
My soul is satisfied with none;
But when Thy will directs my way,
Tis equal joy to go or stay.
Anonymous
God has your whole life in mind when He directs you.