Slow (Part 1): Three-Mile-an-Hour God
“I wish there was a way to know that you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.” –Andy Bernard (The Office)
Wilderness, then, is the place where we are face to face with danger and promise. And that is an educational situation for the people of God. When danger and promise come together to us, it is called crisis. The Bible does not simply speak of danger. If it did so, the biblical faith would be reduced to a “protection-from-danger religion.” The Bible does not simply speak about promise. If it did so, the biblical faith would be reduced to a “happy-ending religion.” The Bible speaks about a crisis situation, co-existence of danger and promise – wilderness – and there God teaches man” – Kosuke Koyama
“In the wilderness, our speed is slowed down until gradually we come to the speed on which we walk – three miles an hour.” – Kosuke Koyama
Isaiah 30:15 NIV: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…”
Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself. – CS Lewis
Ephesians 2:22 NIV: And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
To an infinite artist, a Creator in love with His craft, there is no unimportant corner, there is no thrown-away image, no tattered thread in the novel left untied. – ND Wilson
Philippians 1:5 NLT: And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
You can neither avoid nor outrun the wilderness. You cannot rush formation. But you can slow down, bringing what’s heavy to God each and every day. God’s ways don’t always seem to work every time; rather, they work over time.
Matthew 11:28-29 NLT: Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
God walks “slowly” because he is love. If he is not love he would have gone much faster. Love has its speed. It is an inner speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed to which we are accustomed. It is “slow” yet it is lord over all other speeds since it is the speed of love. It goes on in the depth of our life, whether we notice or not, whether we are currently hit by storm or not, at three miles per hour. It is the speed we walk and therefore it is the speed the love of God walks. — Kosuke Koyama
I am not in control.
I am not in a hurry.
I walk in faith and hope.
I greet everyone with peace.
I bring back only what God gives me.
(Pilgrim's Credo)
