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- The Subtle Danger of Now
The Subtle Danger of Now
If you run fast enough, stress and bad decisions will not catch you.
I love questions of reflection and let's lead this week with one.
Have you seen areas where rushing ahead led to stress or regret? What might have changed if you had waited?
One of the greatest enemies of wise decision making, both in life and in leadership, is the pressure of now.
Now demands urgency. It tells us that waiting is weakness, that action must be immediate, and that slow means failure. But if we are honest, the obsession with now often comes from fear—fear that God is not moving fast enough or that His way may not align with our expectations.
I have had to come face to face with this in my own life. When I get caught up in wanting something to happen now, what I am really saying is that I do not trust God's timing. That somehow, He is either too slow or not doing it right. That realization humbles me every time. When I pause long enough to see it for what it is, it slows me down. It brings me back to a place of surrender and when the moment comes where God's timing is present, it is better than I ever imagined.
God is not bound by time the way we are. His pace is not our pace, and His process often looks nothing like the path we would choose. But here is what I have learned. When I truly give it to Him, when I release the timeline, the control, and the pressure, I begin to notice something beautiful. He opens doors I could not have forced open. He gives wisdom I could not have found on my own. He brings people into my life who offer help and perspective at just the right moment.
...I only experience the measure of peace and provision that I am willing to let go of and trust Jesus with.
But when I do not release it, when I cling to control, I limit what I receive. I block what He wants to do. I only experience the measure of peace and provision that I am willing to let go of and trust Jesus with.
Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. - Matthew 6:34 ESV
I have seen this play out in many areas of my life. In my tithing, when I finally stopped calculating what I thought I could afford and gave freely, I discovered provision I could not explain. In my thoughts, when I stopped spinning in worry and brought them under His truth, I found clarity. In my time, when I gave attention to His Word instead of my schedule, I noticed how often He had already been speaking. I had just been too distracted to listen.
The truth is that waiting is not passive. It is one of the most active things we can do in our faith. It is a declaration that we believe God knows what we do not. It is choosing to trust that His delays are never without purpose. It creates the dependence He is looking for.
"The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him." - Lamentations 3:25, ESV
So, if you feel the pressure of now, if you are rushing a decision, forcing a solution, or doubting God's timing, pause.
Take a breath.
Ask yourself, “Am I trusting Him, or am I just tired of waiting?”
He is not slow. He is precise. And He is working, even when we cannot see it.
Let go of now and lean into trust.
Thought Provoking Questions
Where in your life do you feel the pressure of now pushing you to act before you are ready?
In what ways might you be telling God, intentionally or not, that He is not moving fast enough?
What are you trying to control that you have not fully surrendered to God?
How has God met you in seasons of waiting in the past? What did you learn about Him or yourself during those times?