In the church I attend, the word for this year is “wait. This week I want to address an aspect of “waiting” that most of us do not enjoy. That aspect is taking our time. Taking our time is the opposite of rushing around. I don’t believe God wants us to rush around. Rushing causes us to lose our focus, our perspectives and often we become impatient, say wrong things and upset those around us.
Taking your time brings to mind the verses in Luke 14: 28 to 30. Paraphrasing those verses, it states that which of you intending to build a tower just rushes in- NO- it states which of you building a tower does not sit down first, counts the cost so you do not start to build something you cannot finish and people laugh at you.
The words that are significant for me in this scripture is sitting down first. How many of us do not take the time to sit? If we did, we would not rush into things. We would be forced to count the cost. Counting the cost does not only mean money. It means time, relationships and priorities.
So, in this busy world, how do we take our time? By counting the cost. Will it impact on my time and how much? What about my relationships- is the cost worth it? Is it best for me now or do I wait a little longer? Is this a priority for me? Is this thing something I can do easily or not?
I have found if we don’t count the cost and it fails, people don’t laugh, but the devil does! God does not want us in that situation. He came to give us peace, not turmoil and failure.
I had a situation like this happen to me last week. I did not take my time (which was about five minutes) and overreacted to a situation. I embarrassed myself and the whole thing left me feeling guilty and horrible. All because of five minutes of not taking my time.
This week and beyond, let us take our time, count the cost and decide whether it is better to rush or not. Unless there is a major emergency situation, the word for all of us – Take our time!!!!
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