Slowing Down

It seems like I always have something going on, I need to get from point A to point Z in a day as fast as I can. We live in a fast paced world, and at times we all fish at a fast pace as well. Terms like run and gun come to mind. How many times have we heard a bass pro talk about running and gunning? It’s the world we live in, and at times fish in.

My wife is from Louisiana and when I’m down there it drives me nuts that no one is in a hurry to do anything, unless it’s that bass boat flying across Toledo Bend (which her parents live on). Maybe it’s not such a bad thing if we slow down and take our time. If we don’t we can miss out on some great opportunities. I went out yesterday for what I thought would be my last fishing trip of the year, after a few hours and one fish in the boat (caught by my friend, Josh) we headed in. After the boat was on the trailer and out of the water Josh took off. One of the only times I slow down is when I am locking down the boat on the trailer and rods on the deck. As I cleaned the boat before heading for home one of the other two boats on the water pulled up to the dock. On the way to get his truck he stopped and we talked for what could have been a five minute conversation but turned into an hour and a half conversation. This old guy gave me tons of helpful hints and pointers to try. I could have cut the conversation short because there was a list of things I needed to get done but I didn’t.

It’s like us with God. We can cut our time short with him. We could only spend time with him on Sundays when we go to church, but then like me today we could miss out on a lot of useful information. When we read the Bible and spend time in prayer we get a closer look at God and what He wants for us in our lives. When we rush and don’t make time for God we lose out on all the things He has to say to us. If I had run and had not stood there and talked to this guy I would have missed out on things that I can translate into more fish on that body of water and maybe more tournament winnings next summer. The same is true with God. We could not stop and listen and learn and miss things that will save us hurt later.