Can you just keep moving?
Are you like me? When I drive around town, I plot out my route in my mind and when I run into traffic (defined as more than 5 cars going the actual speed limit) I begin to recalculate and take a different route just so I can keep moving. Sometimes it works and I end up where I was going a little sooner than if I had stayed behind “all that traffic.” My driving philosophy is very simple–just keep moving! It’s alays better than just sitting there waiting for the train or garbage truck or school bus or. . . Sometimes I wonder if church planting can work that way. I mean if you just keep moving, something is bound to work out and get you where you want to go, right?
Then I am reminded by that phrase that we leanred from the children’s story about the tortuse and the hare, “slow and steady wins the race.” Well I’m not sure that I’m down with the slow part, but the steady part seems to pop up all throughout Scripture.
Most recently our Journey Group has been studying the book of Acts. Last night we read Acts 14:8-20. Paul is like the tortuse that never quits. Maybe he’s more like the energizer bunny…he keeps going and going and going. My point is this. Don’t stop doing the things that God has placed before you even when it does seem to be moving as fast as you would like. Real change happens when we are faithful to do the little things consistently over a long period of time. When the whole church is doing that together, lives will be changed and communities will know the impact of the Gospel–it changes everything!
So, don’t be so quick to look past the person who checks you out at Kroger or Sam’s Club. Maybe there’s a small act of kindness that will pave the way for the Gospel that you have been sent to them to share. Knock on your neighbors door just see how they are doing. You’ll be surprised at what God has in store for you when you do the seemingly insignifcant things. But that’s where life is lived.
Just think, maybe God has a great number of neighbors like in Acts 14:1 or a large number of co-workers like in Acts 14:21, but we are looking for the big task instead of staying steady in faithful in the small opportunties.
