Slow Down

“The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.”

- Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Be still and know that I am God.

- Psalm 46:10

Life seems to always be in a hurry. Everyone wants us to move faster. It is like the person advertising the side show with the proclamation, “Hurry, hurry, hurry, step right up!” Every part of life seems to scream these words. Move faster, faster, faster! Do you ever find yourself asking, “When will it ever slow down?”

Unfortunately, the reality is that life will never slow down, but the good news is that we can slow down in the midst of it. And we need to do just that. Our well-being depends on it.

When we get caught up in the rat race of this world, we allow the evil one to gain victory in our lives. If he can keep us busy and hurried, we become more stressed and less effective, both for ourselves and those around us. An old Polish proverb put it this way, “When a man is in a hurry, the devil is happy.”

Jesus recognized this when He spoke these words in Matthew 11:28-30:

”Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.”

Jesus knows we need rest. We cannot sustain a hurried pace of life; it will ruin us.

Even the great theologian Paul Simon recognized this when he wrote these lyrics:

Slow down, you move too fast

You got to make the morning last

Just kicking down the cobblestones

Looking for fun and feeling groovy.

- The 59th Street Bridge Song

Saint Francis De Sales wrote these words:

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.”

I pray you take the time this week to slow down, be still, and rest in Jesus; for in Him, and only in Him, will you find rest for your weary soul.

Pastor Ken

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