Years ago, Hubby Guy and I were in the Bahamas. We decided to walk to a nearby old fort. On our way back to the cruise ship, a local man approached us to say, “Slow down, mon, you’re on island time now!” I remember, at that moment, recognizing our pace was anything but slow. We were on a mission. Likewise, I tend to forget that when it comes to my life mission that I am on Kingdom time.
In childhood, my daughter walked with a pronounced forward lean to her head, as if a strong invisible force had locked on the top of her head and dragged her from place to place. She went everywhere quickly, her little legs churning underneath her to keep up with her head. She always seemed to be on a mission.
As she aged, her pace remained. Because of that, she developed a bad habit of following from out front. More than once Hubby Guy and I stopped to wait and see how long it took her to realize we were no longer walking. We asked, “Do you know where you are going?” She always replied, “I’m following you.”
Following from out front is a silly notion, right? When I follow someone, I watch them go before me and repeat what they did. Following works in that order. If I get ahead of the leader, I may well end up completely lost. Fortunately for my child, I cared enough to prevent her bad habit from getting her into trouble.
When we are following from out front, we do not have all the information we need. I like to say about myself that I know just enough about a topic to make me dangerous. Does that sound familiar? Do you have a habit, like me, of knowing just enough to get started but not enough to be especially successful without some good fortune? Do you say things like “close enough for government work” or do you prefer to learn on the fly? I most definitely do. The practice, on occasion, causes me big problems. In other words, I sabotage my own success.
At lunch with a friend, I recounted a personal journey I have been on since before the pandemic. I shared feeling led by the Lord in a specific direction and how I felt I obeyed that leading. I whined about how things didn’t work out as I believed they should. My friend patiently listened as I defended how I boldly went about accomplishing my mission… head down…going places.
Once I am confident in a direction, I like to take off. When I feel good about a thing, I like to go ahead and accomplish the thing, take it and run with it, get it done… anyone with me?
Somewhere, midstream of telling my tale, I started having that sinking sensation of realization. Retelling the story brought to light my efforts to follow from out front. It felt like the Lord was saying to me, “Slow down, Stef, you’re on Kingdom time now! If you are following me, wait for my leading.”
Here’s some fresh truth for your week – We get no bonus points for charging ahead. None of the pressure we feel comes from God. Following on Kingdom time will get us there at the perfect time.
What passion, mission, or project do you need to surrender to Kingdom time this week? Where in life are you tempted to charge ahead? When it comes to our purpose for the Kingdom, we have God’s permission to wait.