by Liz Hasley
“I’m not in a hurry.” I mumbled to myself for the hundredth time while I was stuck in traffic at 10PM for the fourth time that week. This was clearly untrue. My mind spun into all of the things I was in a hurry for: a job that I loved, friends that pulled me closer to God, my own apartment, for my life to general to be put together and not feel like my life was in complete shambles. I wanted all of these things to happen and to happen now.
I wanted desperately to skip ahead. I was wishing to skip all of the pain, the heart ache, and not getting what I wanted. I would have done anything to have an easy way out. I took short cuts where I blindly hoped it would all work out.
Short cut or “easy way out” I attempted only lead to more heartbreak and pain. It lead to me a place in life full of heartbreak, uncertainty, and insecurity that could have other wise been avoided. The rush I felt then acted upon set me further away from where I wanted to be instead of closer.
Maybe you are in a situation right now where you would give anything to skip all the pain and heart ache in it. You could be pregnant and scared of what the future holds. You could be in place that you have to tell the father of your unborn child of the pregnancy or might have to tell your parents that their daughter is pregnant in high school. You could be reading this trying to decide what do about this unexpected pregnancy that has turned your life upside down. You may be in a place of brokenness from a fractured relationship. These situations are scary. They are hard. They are painful. All you may want is to skip this. You may want to take the short cut. For this season where you feel brokenhearted and unsure of everything, you are in a hurry to skip ahead. You want to go ahead and get to the part of your life where you are put together and it does not hurt this badly.
What if in this season God is making you more like him. What if instead of this destroying you it is making you complete.
Psalm 69:13
But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O GOD, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
This verse talks about praying to God even when they do not have the answers to life. The psalmist cries out for the Lord to answer them in their time of distress. You may be crying out to the Lord in distress, heartbroken and unsure of anything. The psalmist points out the Lord’s steadfast love. God’s steadfast love is mentioned serval times throughout the Bible. It is discussed at length a constantly brought up as a reminder.
James 1:2-4
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing.
So if God has steadfast love for us and trails produce steadfastness then do trails not make us more like Him?
The definition of steadfast is unwavering, stable, firm. Steadfastness makes us complete, lacking nothing. Is this not what, in this season of uncertainty you crave more than almost anything else? You probably pray to feel stable, complete. In the season of feeling so incomplete and uncertain be careful not to rush ahead. The heartache you are attempting so hard to run from is the very thing God is using to make you more like him. He is using this season to give you the complete whole feeling that is so allusive. In this season where it seems you have nothing God is preparing your heart to give you the desires of it. If you rush ahead past this season you will miss the blessings God was trying to give you in this season. Let the trail push you closer to the steadfast person he has created you to be.
Almost four months after the scene in my car took place I now smile at the waitress that apologizes for the wait and speak the phrase that has become true for me, “It’s okay. I am not in a hurry.”
So if you are in a hurry take a breath. This season will end. Even if it seems like it never will they always do. God is using this. Enjoy the small things. take this time to pull close to God and those around. Allow God to use this time to change your heart. Don’t skip ahead. Don’t rush past this season no matter how badly you want to slow down. Smile and remember He is making you more like him.
