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I’ve always suspected that my jogging speed was the same as most people’s walking speed. Since a new speedometer was recently installed in my neighborhood street, I now have proof that I jog at three to four miles per hour. Not impressive, but it does the trick. After 15 minutes at that speed I break a sweat. Plus, it's the right pace to notice many wonderful and interesting things along the way.
We live in a world under the spell of addictive speed. It is easy to stay on the surface in our thoughts, activities, and relationships. However, Jesus came to give us much more than surface living.
He came to give us life and life in abundance (John 10:10).
He calls us to remain (abide - go deep) in Him (John 15:4).
His words are given to make our joy complete (John 15:11).
These are samples of the depth and quality of life that is available to all who belong to Jesus.
Unfortunately, many of us miss out on experiencing the deep, abundant, and satisfying life that is rightfully ours in Jesus because we are moving too fast. It is like we’re starving ourselves to death inside a fully-stocked supermarket.
In his book, The Deeply Formed Life, Rich Villodas says: “As long as we remain enslaved to a culture of speed, superficiality, and distraction, we will not be the people God longs for us to be.”
Villodas calls the reader to cultivate contemplative rhythms that include: silent prayer, sabbath keeping, slow scripture reading, and commitment to stability. These are all rhythms that compel us to slow the pace.
I’ll leave you with a thought from this book that first got me thinking about this and helped me feel good about my three mph jogging speed.
Kosuke Koyama wrote a book titled, Three-Mile-an-Hour God. The author explains that three miles per hour is the average speed humans walk—the average speed Jesus walked. Koyama suggests that if we want to connect with God, we’d be wise to travel at God’s speed. God has all the time in the world, and is not in a hurry. N.T. Wright similarly affirmed, “It is only when we slow down our lives that we can catch up to God”. (from “The Deeply Formed Life”)
So friend, what's your speed? What could you do to slow your pace in order to connect with the deeper life Jesus has for you?
Changes in life’s priorities and rhythms can be some of the greatest gifts we receive from betrayal trauma healing.
Let’s go there together, at God’s speed!
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