The Hard Times That Hurt You (Part 3)

Slow Down For Construction

When we are in a hurry, we don't want to see certain signs on the highway such as "Reduce Speed" and "Construction Ahead." Slowing down for big construction areas can be a pain. It's an inconvenience, but things will be so much better when they're finished.

Psalm 23:1-3 of God's Word has comforted, challenged, and encouraged many people for many years. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul."

These words present a beautiful scene, but there are some potentially troubling words here: "He makes me lie down..." We tend to slow down rather unwillingly, but God has a lot of ways of putting on the brakes. God can use one visit to the doctor, a child who is in crisis, an emergency in the life of someone we love, or bad financial news as brakes to slow us down. It could be a dramatic change that we never could have anticipated. The brakes are different, but the result is the same - we get slowed down.

Maybe that is exactly where you are right now. It's possible that you have been traveling at a very high rate of speed. Maybe you have been trying to manage growth, manage a crisis, or build something new. Maybe you have been packing more and more into your life, trying to balance demands from every direction or trying to make things happen. Suddenly, God has hit the brakes of your life.

You can sit there and mutter and bang on the steering wheel, or you can realize why God is doing what He is doing. He knows you need quiet waters and green pastures right now. Your soul needs some restoring and you are tired, both inside and out. Don't fight it. This is His love in action. He knows you could not keep running at the pace you have been going.

Maybe you were running over people or past them or neglecting the people closest to you. Maybe you have begun to think that your work is your worth, and God has been crowded to the edge of your life. It's probably time for whatever kind of construction He wants to do.

If God has slowed you down or shut you down, relax in the knowledge that this is His plan. This is His love. This is His assignment right now, and His way to give you what you need most. Sure, the traffic has braked to a halt, but you are in a divine construction zone. God has slowed your speed so He can work on you. It will be worth the inconvenience. You will be so much better when the construction is finished, so be still and know that He is God.