Latest / THIS IS THE LIFE PODCAST / GOD IS NOT RUSHING YOU

Transcript

GOD IS NOT RUSHING YOU · THIS IS THE LIFE PODCAST

• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Good morning. I hope you get up this morning feeling
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: well and rested and just taking your time to spend
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: a little time with Jesus before you get out and
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: begin your day. The reality is that too often we
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: get up in a hurry. We get up feeling rushed
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: or Or things of that nature. And this morning the
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Lord comes to us with a devotion that just simply says,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: If you are feeling rushed, it's not God that's rushing you.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Proverbs chapter 16 and verse number 9 bears that out
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: when it says, A man's heart devises his ways, but
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: the Lord directs his steps. Have you ever felt that way?
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Have you ever felt as though you're always falling behind?
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: You just never seem to catch up? Perhaps... You thought
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: you'd have reached a certain goal in your life by
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: now that maybe you set for yourself when you were younger.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Maybe a question that you've had for years that just
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: keeps going on and on and hadn't been settled yet.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: You know, those types of things that come in and
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: out of our lives. Maybe you think you will be
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: further along in your walk with the Lord or your
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: career by now. You look at the calendar and you
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: look at your life and sometimes you think, you know,
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: why are things taking so long? And sometimes the pressure
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: comes from a timeline we set on ourselves, but not
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: one that God placed on us. See, we may have
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: decided when an answer should come and how quickly it
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: could change the circumstances in our lives. Then when life
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: does not follow that schedule, and we know how we
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: are with schedules sometimes, and when it doesn't follow that schedule,
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: we begin to feel rushed. And here's what happens sometimes
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: when we begin to feel rushed. We push for decisions
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: before we have peace about those decisions. We measure our
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: progress against what someone else is doing and how far
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: along they are. We become so concerned with reaching the
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: next place that we struggle to be faithful where we
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: are right now. And Proverbs declares that when it says,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: A man's heart devises his ways, but the Lord directs
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: his steps. I'll tell you something about faith this morning.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: What God has shown me over the years, faith gives
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: us a place to stand when we are feeling rushed. See,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: when we can take the next step without demanding to
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: see the entire plan, we're standing on faith. With the
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: right perspective in mind, what we can do, we can
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: do what God has placed before us today and then
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: trust Him with what's still ahead. See, begin to look
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: at faithfulness this morning as steps on a staircase. Okay?
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Each step takes you a little higher. Now, here's the thing.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: The first step doesn't get you there. And the last
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: step doesn't get you there. It's each step leads to
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: the next step until you're finally there. I want you
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: to think about how long it takes a tree to grow.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: How long it takes it to grow those strong roots
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: so we may notice its height its branches and eventually
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: its fruit but there's something much deeper happening that we
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: can't see and the time spent growing roots is not
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: wasted time because without those roots the tree will struggle
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: to stand the storms that come in and out of
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: its lifetime and it's the same that's true for us
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: god may be strengthening your trust today He may be
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: deepening your understanding. Or he may be teaching you patience
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: in a season that looks quiet from the outside. Maybe
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: you're feeling rushed, but maybe the Lord's just trying to
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: slow you down a little bit. I know you may
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: wish it would go faster and move faster. That's the
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: way we all are kind of wired. But there is
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: value in the work you're doing today, right now. If
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: there is something you know God has called you to do,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: just take the next faithful step. Make a phone call.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: Have a conversation. Begin the work. But you do not
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: have to turn every step into a race. And be
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: careful this morning. Be careful that you aren't trying to
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: outrun the direction of the Lord. You are allowed to
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: learn as you go. Take a breath. As you're pacing yourself.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: Pray before you decide. And make a decision. And give
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: those important things time to develop. Instead of rushing them.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: Because see God sees both where you are. But he
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: also sees where you're going. And what it's going to
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: take to get you there. And you do not have
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: to arrive at tomorrow. Today. Simply be faithful. With the
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: step in front of you. And trust God with the
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: pace of your journey. Because we know this to be true.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: To dwell on the possibilities of what might be. Is
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: to overlook the beauty of what really is. So today
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: you be safe. You be strong. And you be blessed.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: And you be patient. Because God is ordering your steps.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Lord's will we'll see you back here tomorrow for Front
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Porch Fridays. And until then, I sure hope you have
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: a great and wonderful day.