Racing Ahead or Being Led?

"Be still and Know that I am God" - Psalm 46:10


I'll admit it. I struggle with being still. I'm one of the most active, unstill, driven people around. I always have to be "doing" something. And yet I just spent a week alone, with no schedules, no planned activities, no conversations, and lots of "still" time. I did run on the beach and swim in the ocean, but aside from my early morning workouts I basically chilled - reading, napping, sitting, laying around. After a year of running full out, I stopped. And here's what I learned about myself.


I've not spent enough quiet time with God to recognize His voice when He speaks to me. I've been racing ahead instead of being led. Christian author and pastor Jentezen Franklin describes what happens when we race ahead without slowing down and seeking God's will for our lives. In "Right People, Right Place, Right Plan", Franklin suggests that we can find ourselves "running at breakneck speed, confused, unproductive, always pushing and driving." That's me. The fall-out from racing ahead often isn't pretty. While we're doing it, we think we're making progress, getting things done, being hugely productive. And then something happens, mistakes are made as we rush through life, and sometimes we crash and burn.


So I slowed down long enough to recognize that I've been trying to force things to happen. I've been racing ahead - without knowing the course in advance. I've been doing the leading, instead of being still and seeking the discerning voice of God. Jesus spent considerable alone time with His Father, for good reason. In the quiet times, God speaks to us. We won't hear or learn anything if we are out racing ahead, pursuing our own agenda, assuming that we know what's best for us.

"Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait for Him to act" - Psalm 37:7

It's time to get back to being led. It's time to apply the lessons learned from a week away and alone, to my life and daily walk. It's time to consciously carve out the quiet time each day to be still, be patient, and wait for God to act. It's time to truly BELIEVE that the God who created me, cares for me, and loves me more than I can imagine, knows what is best for me.