Words of Hope: Haste
My mom and I like speed. I like haste. I like to hurry through a store, rush through conversations, interrupt, or move on.
I am like my dad in that I say things in haste that would be better left unshared. Like Dad, I am hasty in an angry response when I am flooded or frustrated.
On the other hand, sometimes I don’t move as quickly as I should. I often drive below the speed limit like Dad did, to the frustration of those in and outside the vehicle. I can be sluggish in finishing a personal project that is creative and meaningful — postponing for an easier or obligatory task. I am slow to go to the doctor. I am slow to make a change on a character flaw.
Why do we rush sometimes and not others? What danger comes to us because we rush or because we are not acting when we should?
In scripture, haste to give an angry response or to act in fear leads to poor judgment, poverty, and skips in planning and wisdom.
There are a few times scripture does speak about haste in the positive. Mary runs with haste to meet with Elizabeth. She has heard the good news of the end of Elizabeth’s barrenness.
The shepherds respond in haste to fulfill what the angels told them— go and seek Jesus.
Can I be hasty to praise God for the answered prayers in the lives of those for whom I daily pray? Can I be hasty to worship the Lord? Can I slow down in matters of anger or fear?
Can I respond to divine messages with immediate gratitude and obedience?
What do you discern for your life? Where is a haste a mistake and where is it a blessing?
And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. – Luke 1:39-42
