Slow

Slow

The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake.

MY MOM IS A QUILTER. She created a quilt for my high school graduation using photos from my childhood printed on fabric and sewn together with care to display at my graduation party. She gave another one to Tim and me when we married, large enough to fit a queen-size bed. And she made personalized quilts for each of our daughters when they were born, complete with a fabric tag with their name and a Bible verse. Each time she shows me what she’s currently working on, I always tease her that I’m happy to take more.

I love the artistry of quilting, but I’m afraid I don’t have that kind of patience. As much as I tease my mom about giving me another quilt for Christmas, I know the hard work it involves. It takes hours upon hours to choose fabrics, measure correctly and cut pieces, then carefully sew them together. It’s slow, painstaking work. If you consider the amount of time and money that goes into each quilt, it’s a costly endeavor; any quilt from my mom is a priceless heirloom.

So many things in this life take time. In our fast-paced culture, we don’t always value the power of slow. Patience is an underrated quality. Yet when you really consider it, the things we value are often slow to develop: character in people, proficiency in a career, quality handcrafted furniture or artwork. We appreciate the beauty and mastery required in each of these circumstances, but we don’t often consider how it’s only through slow, painstaking work that these ideals are accomplished.

Similarly, the work God is doing in and through us is often a slow process, one that we can’t always appreciate in the moment. We wait impatiently for circumstances to change, dreams to come true, or goals to be reached without considering that God’s timing is better than our own. The things we consider slow may instead be just the refining needed to create a beautiful masterpiece out of the patchwork pieces of our lives.

Lord, thank you for the gift of slow. Help us to appreciate it more. Amen.

-Kristin

One Good Step: What is something you’ve been working toward or thinking about that seems slow in coming? Is it possible that the slowness is beneficial rather than detrimental —why or why not?