09/30/2021
Our Pace
By Reece Mashaw
PRAYER:
God, give me your eyes to see where my pace in life needs adjusting.
READING:
Do you remember that story in the Gospels where Jesus was hurrying from one town to the next, all stressed and angry? Remember when Peter started to ask him a question and Jesus snapped at him? Then Jesus pushed aside some guy who was waiting to talk to him because he needed to get to the next thing on his to-do list. Do you remember that? No? Yeah, me neither. Because it never happened!
When we read the stories recorded about Jesus, he appears as the busiest yet least hurried man to ever live. There were constant demands on his time from the crowds, his followers, and the powerful people of his day. But he never seemed stressed, impatient, or distracted. He always had time for people, which is even more impressive when you realize that almost every interaction recorded in the Gospels begins as an interruption.
Consider this recorded encounter: Mark tells us about a time when Jesus was preaching to a crowd and a man named Jairus interrupted him. He told Jesus about his sick daughter and pleaded with him to come heal her. Jesus stopped what he was doing and immediately set off toward Jairus’ house. While he was walking through the thick crowds of people, Jesus was interrupted again, this time by a woman who had been bleeding for years. She fought her way through the crowd, reached out her hand, and touched him. And, just like that, she was healed.
Jesus could have carried on and let that be; instead he stopped. His disciples were frustrated by the delay, but Jesus insisted on finding this woman. After he found her, he gave her his full attention. He addressed her with affectionate language: “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (Mark 5:34). And then he continued his walk to Jairus’ house, where he raised his daughter out of death. Overall, I would say that was quite a busy afternoon.
Jesus never seemed anxious or too hurried for the people he encountered. C.S. Lewis’s spiritual director, Walter Adams, wrote, “To walk with Jesus is to walk with a slow, unhurried pace.” From time to time, we must pause to ask ourselves, How is my pace? Am I running from one thing to the next? When someone asks, “How are you doing?” is your first response, “Busy.” What would those closest to you say about your pace? Are you short-tempered with those closest to you? Or do you make the people you love feel like they’re not a priority? And what about time with God? Are you consistently planning time to connect with him?
The rippling effect of an unsustainable pace is often a lack of love expressed to those around us. “Hurry” and “love” are incompatible. Like oil and water, they don’t mix. If I’m too busy and anxious to show patience and love to people, then I’m out of step with Jesus.
Matthew, a disciple who walked with Jesus, records these words Jesus spoke to his followers:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28–30
Jesus wants to give us rest even amid busy seasons. We have to choose to come to him.
Perhaps one of the best things you can do today is slow down. Learn from the pace of Jesus. Take a deep breath and release tension and anxiety. Follow him in moving at an unhurried pace of love.
REFLECTION:
How is your pace? What is one thing you can do today to begin walking at an unhurried pace?
