I used to hurry a lotI used to worry a lot
That was me. Those two lines from the Eagle’s song, The Long Run, have always spoken to me about the life I used to live. I used to be so focused on my outlook on life that I would let impatience take control. Why is God taking so long to answer my prayers? Why doesn’t He do it now? Well, one day I got an answer and a wakeup call.
Just because I was redeemed and given a new life in the spirit doesn’t mean that I am fit to “do something” for God. That’s when I learned that until I am ready,
God had to set me on the shelf and talk to me about what He did to His own Son …
Matt 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ESV
Jesus was just baptized and He certainly could have been ready to “do something” for His Father. But there was a bigger picture. There was a Long Run to be taken and it involved being tested. Jesus took the Long Run and He reminded me that we are to do the same.
Matt 10:24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. ESV
But so often I wanted to take the “Short Cut” and hurry things up … There is a strong need, I need to do it quickly. But that isn’t how God does it. So why does He take such a long time? What I’ve “painfully” learned over the years is that it’s all about what God is after.
Heb 2:10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. ESV
What I had to learn is that it takes time to make a son or daughter. It doesn’t happen overnight. We are saved by the grace of God but becoming a spiritual son or daughter takes time … it takes the Long Run. We have to become sons and daughters of God by discernment and understanding, and that isn’t going to happen by taking the Short Cut. We are to follow the path our bridegroom set before us …
Heb 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. ESV
God did not give Jesus a pass (Short Cut) on fulfilling the requirements of being His Son and neither does He shield us from those requirements. It takes a long time for the natural in us to die in order for the spiritual to become reality. And one thing I had to learn is that it is not my bad that is the enemy of God, it’s my good that is never good enough which is generally the result of taking the Short Cut, not the Long Run.
Jesus’ way is the Long Run and He never insists that we take His way; He just says I am the way.
Matt 18:3 “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven … ESV
It takes a long time for us to fully realize what Jesus is after in our life and it takes a lot of patience. Oh, how much easier that is if we come like little children and take the Long Run … God is never in a hurry. We are His bride on the basis of His Redemption, but we should be making headway in becoming sons and daughters by following the Holy Spirit … in the Long Run.