Speeding up and slowing down
On Wednesday of last week, after four potentially direction-changing conversations that took place over about a thirty-hour period, the Lord had my full attention. The opportunities in front of me could all warrant full-time attention in a day job, and they all fit perfectly within the bullseye of J17 Ministries’ vision, mission, and current priorities. As the apparent speed with which God is moving in alignment with Jesus’ John 17 prayer continues to accelerate, my need to slow down and linger in the Lord’s Presence for extended periods of time is becoming non-negotiable. By extended periods of time, I mean the entire agenda for a day. Monday was that day. Sorry to have to admit this, but it’s highly unusual for me to take a work day (not a Sabbath day of rest) and measure its success and faithfulness on the basis of how few tasks I get accomplished and checked off. Here was yesterday’s agenda: linger, and seek the Lord on the big picture.
When it came time to ruminate in the Word, I specifically invited the Lord to direct me someplace else in addition to my daily pattern if He so chose. I have friends who are disciplined in daily substantive time in the Word but who come without a reading plan to the start of the day. The first half of that sentence is significant! I know many who have no plan… and end up with irregular snacks in the Word rather than sustenance for the day. For me, I know my weaknesses well enough that until I’ve grown even more, I don’t trust myself to receive the full counsel of the Word over time unless I make that part of my structure. Over the last year or so, I’ve shifted significantly in my approach to the read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan, such that the goal isn’t to read every word, but to lay the whole Word before the Lord and land and linger wherever Holy Spirit directs me… within that larger framework. But yesterday, knowing that if all I did was ruminate on select Scripture, it would be a great day, I nevertheless planned to chew on the apportioned readings as the appetizer.
As it turns out, if God had chosen three passages most appropriate to my current speeding up and slowing down both/and point of view, it’s hard to imagine the March 24 readings being surpassed in terms of timeliness and “scratching where it itches.” The gospel reading from Luke 6 mentions “everyone trying to touch Jesus.” My days felt full… until pondering Jesus’ reality. And so, what did He do? In verses 12-16, He slowed down by praying all night prior to picking and equipping twelve disciples.
Psalm 67 begins, “May God be merciful to us and bless us…” Verse 2 says, “May Your ways be known throughout the earth, Your saving power among people everywhere.” Everywhere was what I knew I needed to lay before the Lord yesterday. Since early 2024, God has clearly spoken to us at J17 that in order to operate even more fully and effectively in the local (Tucson area) circle, He also is going to be inviting us to operate somewhat in both national and international circles as well. Each strengthens the other. The latter two have been growing remarkably… hence, the clarity that without slowing down and letting God clearly direct things, the wrong plates would fall to the ground and shatter. Psalm 67 only has seven verses, but do you know which two words show up five times each in those seven verses? “Nation” and “world/earth.”
Luke 6 and Psalm 67, however, merely added to the rich banquet God had prepared. Deuteronomy 2-3 was the meat and potatoes. If you had asked me in advance what I would read there, I could have told you the whole book of Deuteronomy was Moses’ final teaching as the Israelites were getting ready to enter the Promised Land. But could I have shared specifically without looking it up what was contained in chapters two and three? Not at all. It turns out the whole assigned reading mentions specific and varied guidance from the Lord. I recorded 22 different specific words of direction and guidance in those two chapters. Twenty-two! Such as... “Turn around,” “Be careful,” “Wait,” a word of warning, “Take a good look,” “Get moving,” “Do not bother,” “I’ve watched your every step for 38 years,” “I will hand over this particular enemy (but not some other ones), regardless of the height or size of the obstacles,” “Do not be afraid,” Moses pleading with the Lord and the Lord responding, “That’s enough! Speak of it no more!” And ending with direction to commission, encouragement, and strengthening of the next generation leader. Every single word of that direction applies to the questions I brought before the Lord on Monday.
My conclusion to this article is both thousands of years old and reliable, and new every morning: the Word of God is alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword… And in planning our days, we simply cannot afford to make it up as we go.
