Slow and Steady

I remember this moment, I was around 21 years old and I was sitting on my Mom’s couch crying. I was a “yes” girl, at the time. Anyone who asked me to do anything, out of the spirit of people-pleasing, I would say “yes”. I had just moved out on my own, moving in with the family I am now and forevermore known as “Nanny” to. But in the process of taking on this new job, I had also taken on another as the worship leader at the church I was attending. I was also teaching a weekly Bible study to teenage girls, coaching volleyball every day at my old high school and on top of that, I was supposedly taking online classes to finish up my bachelors degree. (Notice I said “supposedly”. The two I was taking at the time, I literally just didn’t do. Like nothing. Yes, I failed them. Yes, I’m a college dropout.) I remember this was the first moment in my life that I was spread too thin— like butter on toast— that’s what I pictured. Visual learner over here.

Several years later, I was working and living with college students in a community center. I remember one day realizing it had been three solid days since I had stepped outside. Yet I had been so busy. I had individual counseling meetings with this person and that person. I think at the time I had three Dgroups, weekly scheduled meetings with “room leads”, and group meetings to help sort out the roommate issues, along with the confrontational meetings with the students who had broken rules. And let’s not forget worship leading on Sundays, and youth on Wednesdays, oh, and Thursdays for the college ministry. I remember a moment of laying on my bed in the middle of the day, closing my eyes, exhausted, and just wanting it to all stop. Wondering how I ended up here. How was this my life? And was this really a life at all? There’s that butter on toast again.

A few weeks ago I was preparing for a Bible study I have with a couple teenage girls. The Parable of the Sower was on my mind. I was looking at all the different accounts of this parable and Luke’s stood out to me differently. Let’s go there.

Luke 8:4-15

“And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to Him, He said in a parable, ‘A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.’ As He said these things, He called out, ‘He who has ears let him hear.’

And when His disciples asked Him what this parable meant, He said, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others, they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in a honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”

“With patience”… those two words have hung in the air since I read them.

Do you remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? Do they even tell that story anymore? I think we should bring it back.

STORY TIME!!!

Once upon a time, there was a tortoise and a hare. The hare would make fun of the tortoise for being so slow. One day, he decided to challenge the tortoise to a race. The tortoise agreed. At the starting line, the energy was high, all the animals in the forest were cheering. As the old owl signals for the race to begin, the hare takes off, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. The tortoise slowing begins to make his way, barely even moving the dirt beneath his feet. The race is long, and the hare begins to get tired. He sees a nice tree that looks like the perfect napping spot. In his cockiness, he says, “That tortious is so slow, I have time to take a nap and still win the race.” So he stops and falls asleep. The tortoise, however, continues on slow and steady, passing the hare in the process. When the hare wakes up the tortoise is just crossing the finish line and the crowd is going wild. The tortoise has beaten the hare and won the race.

The writer of Hebrews talks about running a race. He says:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising its shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” -Hebrews 12:1-2

“Hey Siri, define endurance.”

“Endurance– the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way.”

”Hey Siri, define endure.”

“Endure– suffering patiently.

Patiently…

Our world doesn’t really know that word very well. Heaven forbid we add the word “suffering” before it. Or how about another word, “waiting”.

I can hear the groans now. No one wants to wait anymore. We want it all now. And we know it. We say it all the time. We know we are impatient. We know our attention spans are getting down to seconds. We know this isn’t good and yet we don’t want to go through the process of learning a different way. No, that will take too long.

Gardening is funny. I really want to be good at it. But I feel like there are all the “secret rules”. (Note: If you know these “secret rules” and would like to impart your wisdom to me, I would be so delighted.) Like I heard this a few weeks ago from a lady at a women’s event. Did you know, that there are certain plants (which plants? I couldn’t tell ya…again, “secret rules”) that once you plant them and they begin to grow, at a certain time (“secret rules”), you need to prune them back to the point that they pretty much look dead? Not just cutting off the dead branches, but also the branches that look good. The reason for this is because a good gardener knows that when the plant first starts growing, it grows so fast its root system can’t support the plant and its fruit yet. Pruning it back will allow the roots to grow deeper and the plant will be able to grow bigger and produce more fruit than it ever could before.

I used to think that being “good dirt” was something I had to figure out how to be. But I think rather it’s a process to surrender to, than a science experiment to be solved. We are not the Gardener. The Father is. That’s what John 15 says. I think if we try to do it without knowing all the “secret rules” that only He knows, we will unintentionally allow the seeds to fall on the path being trampled and eaten by the birds(snatched up by the devil). Or we will plant it on the rock and although we may grow, we will wither quickly when we are tested, because the roots can’t grow and we can’t get water there. Or we will plant it among the thorns, allowing those thorns (the cares, riches, and pleasures of life) to grow with us, putting us in a choke-hold so we can’t mature. Kinda like I did when I was 21.

I also used to think that running the race “to win the prize” as Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 9 meant that I had to go fast. Figure out how be the best. The best at praying, the best at knowing the scriptures, the best at counseling and telling others about Jesus. Serving in every single area. The savior-complex was a real thing and “everyone must get out of my way”. I thought that was just how ministry was supposed to be done. “Go, go, go! Get everyone saved, healed and delivered! THIS IS A RACE PEOPLE! FASTER! FASTER!” But once the Lord so kindly invited me off of the “ministry merry-go-round” I noticed what the writer of Hebrews doesn’t say. He doesn’t say that I am to fix my eyes on the number of unsaved people in my town. He doesn’t say that I must go fast. We already looked up what the word endurance means. He also doesn’t say that I am the author and perfecter of my faith. Once again, that’s His job. He’s the One that starts the work and He’s the One that perfects and finishes it.

The first marathon I ever watched from the sidelines (I am definitely not a runner) was at the beach. It was windy and rainy. Not an ideal day for a race. There was this really tall guy. He finished his race in record time. But he kept running back finding his people. They all had on the same shirts. He would get in front of them and start running. I would hear him say, “You’ve got this, just keep going. Just focus on me. I’ve got the wind.” Once that person would finish, he would run back and find another. I watched him do this over and over and over.

That’s Jesus, you guys. He gave us all new shirts to match His. He’s the Big Guy who finished His race in record time, yet He’s also the One running right in front of us, taking on the wind, encouraging us to keep going, to just fix our eyes on Him and trust Him to lead us to the end.

We are going to keep talking about this, because I think it’s important and there is still more to process and say.

But for now, here’s your encouragement for the week:

First, slow down. Endurance doesn’t mean “with speed”… it means “with patience.” If you feel like butter on toast, spread too thin, or you’ve forgotten your supposed to be the tortoise not the hare—maybe you need to stop people-pleasing, or get off the “ministry merry-go-round”, and say “yes” to only the things Jesus is asking you to do. This is ministry. Let Him fertilize your heart, and make you into “good dirt”, even if it takes more time than you want it to. Stop expecting fruit to be grown overnight, and surrender to the pruning process. Trust that He knows what’s best, He knows all the “secret rules”. He’s truly the Master Gardener. As you run your race, fix your eyes on Him, let Him be the Author and Perfecter of your faith. He’s got you. He’s with you. He’s got the wind. Take a lesson from the tortoise, you’re gonna make it, just keep going Slow and Steady.