Frustrated with the Pace of Life
I can find myself easily frustrated with the pace of life. I want the opportunity to come quicker than it seems to. If I pray and read my bible then everything should go my way right? But when life goes too fast, I lose my breath… could it please slow down! Some days feel like I can’t keep up as the “to do” list is never ending or more so always being added to. Other days I know I am ready for more, but with the pace I am living in it feels like my dreams are light years away.
I recently spoke at a retreat in Black Mountain, NC. This is my second year getting to speak at this retreat and as I decided I wasn’t going on the 5am sunrise hike this year I got a text asking if I would lead the sunrise hike devotional… as in wake up at 4:30 to begin the trail at 5 and share from the word in a hopefully not delusional mind at 6. As I responded yes with two exclamation points, like I had not just said I wasn’t going I began to seek God on what he wanted me to share.
As we headed towards the steep hill that begins the “Rattlesnake” trail 10 yards in and already out of breath, the Lord began to reveal to me the similarities in our lives to the climb we were beginning. With a 1.5 mile hike ahead I prepared my mind for the mountain. To give perspective, anytime I walk with my girl friends, they know to avoid the hills if I'm around because they, in my eyes, are the worst. But in the midst of starting up the trail that was ahead of us I could sense the Lord's presence in his creation and him opening my eyes to the deeper meaning in what was surrounding us. As I hiked with the girls I heard stories of their passions, their lives, and their community. They also shared stories of their brokenness, their losses, and the pain that has taken place in their lives. As I listened, their testimonies sounded a lot like the hike that we were on. More times than not, life feels like a hike. Full of uphill battles, down hill second winds, flat seasons of grace, and a purpose at the top that was worth every breathless moment.
Here are a few relatable takeaways from our “hike” that you can put in your Lulu fanny pack for your journey.
There is purpose in the pace.
Sometimes it’s uphill, downhill, or flat.
The top may be cloudy.
Give it time and you will see a view.
There is purpose in the pace.
The amount of moments I have wanted to be ahead of the season God has placed me in, is countless. As my grandmother picked my up from preschool I cried wanting to be “big” like my 8 year old cousin as if being 8 years old was like being 25. It is so easy to forget that God intentionally sets the pace of your life. My pace on the Rattlesnake Trail hike determined who I hiked with, the conversations I had, and the testimonies I heard. As a result of my pace on the hike it also determined the blog I would write this week, the encouragement you would get, and the impact of lives online. Your pace of life determines the environment God wants to use you in, the people you do life with, and the opportunity you are placed in. Pace is timing and God's timing is always perfect. Trust the pace he has set for you because in his perfect timing you will walk in the purpose he has prepared for you.
Sometimes it’s uphill, it’s down, others its flat .
As we hiked up hills and hiked down hills and even hiked flat stretches I was reminded of the grace God gives us throughout the hike. Uphill hikes are hard, maybe they reveal a weakness but also creates an opportunity for God’s strength to show up. This uphill hike can represent a hard season, a loss, a broken relationship, a dysfunctional family. Uphill battles create strength and endurance. Uphill battles create strength to depend on the Lord. As you are climbing the mountain of life, you don’t get very far before you realize how quick human strength wears out and God's strength shows up. Through the downhill seasons you may find yourself hiking at a quicker pace. This can represent a season of opportunity coming to fruition, a string of answered prayers building your faith, the hike doesn’t just feel fun but it is fun. The part of the hike that was my favorite though were the stretches of flat land. I saw these moments as the seasons of grace God gives us. You’re not necessarily going fast or slow but God has blessed you with a season of rest. A space to recover with him from the hard season you are coming out of, a season of rest before the hike builds up again. How kind of God to love us enough to not let us max out our pace on the front end and to bless us with a season of rest so that we can arrive at our purpose in the best shape possible.
The top may be cloudy.
As we got to the top of the hike we were greeted with a magnificent view of… gray fluff… a little different from the view we hiked for. Although all we saw was gray, we could be sure of the fact that the vast beauty of God was around us. There was a difference in what we saw with our eyes and what was really there. What we saw was gray but what was there was a thousand foot view of God’s creation. When the top is cloudy you need faith. When expectation looks different from reality but you are sure of a promise God has given you, you must have faith to believe in the beauty around you, because the truth is that it is there. It is easy to put an expectation on what the top “should” look like. Don’t let a “missed expectation” alter the truth of what is around you. You will realize the expectation was never missed, it is just rooted in faith of choosing to believe in the goodness you are surrounded by.
Give it time and you will see the view.
In an era where what we want, we can almost immediately get, it can be easy to wonder where the blessing is as soon as we reach the top of the mountain. You were consistent in the hike, you prayed for a view, you did all the right things. Why is the view not great?? If the answer you are looking for is different from what you thought it would be, would you be ok with that? Would Christ be enough even if the view stayed covered in clouds? Maybe you’re not supposed to see the fruit of the promise just yet, but give it time and you will see the view. I have found that in seasons that I feel like I missed out, when I become content with what I have been given, I realize I was never without anything at all. God hasn’t forgotten, he’s just still working. There are no magical words that make the waiting easier but there is a different perspective that you can take on. Through time and waiting, the clouds will break open and you will soon see the purpose of every moment in the hike.
Ask God what he wants to reveal to you in the hike of life today. His greatest desire is to reveal himself to you. I pray these words encourage you as God carries you up the mountain that is life.
