Grocery Store Encounter

Jesus often gives commands such as, “Come,” “Listen,” “"Ask,” or “Pray.” He directs us to action. Yet in my search of Scripture, I cant find any commands that fit my life style of “Hurry,” “Rush,” “Do,” or “Speed.” In fact, in my quiet time, I hear just the opposite message from God who calls me to abide.
Bear with me, I'm going to give you a snapshot of a recent day in my life. For many of you, it will sound depressingly familiar. The day’s plan was to drive five hours to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a weekend vacation with my family. I didn’t want to miss my Bible study group so I went there first. It was late morning by the time I got home and packed.
Next I went to the grocery store and filled a cooler full of some hard to find items. Nearly out of town, I suddenly remembered my sister’s birthday; detoured to the mall and then the post office. Finally I settled in for the drive. My plan was to stop by Virginia Beach to have a quick visit with relatives. Traffic was heavy so I was over an hour late getting to my 90 year old father-in-law’s house. Our visit was cut short as I had promised my daughter I would pick up my six month old granddaughter from the sitter and be back at her house when she got home from work. I was late and she beat us home. We visited a bit and eventually I fixed dinner for us to stash in my cooler. It was after 9:30 pm when I left to drive the final two hours to the Outer Banks, arriving quite late.
Are you exhausted yet? I certainly was.
The next morning, I went out to shop at the local grocery store for the rest of the supplies needed to feed ten people for a weekend. I was fairly focused on my task – in other words, I was a woman on a mission. Parking my laden grocery cart to the side of an aisle, I ducked around the corner to grab some shaving cream I would probably not use anyway because who has time to shave their legs? When I got back I realized that there was an older woman waiting patiently to get around my cart.
“I’m so sorry,” I apologized as I quickly maneuvered my heavy cart aside. “I thought I had parked this with enough room for people to get past me.”
“I’m not in a hurry,” the woman said calmly, looking me right in the eye.
I pushed my cart to the next aisle but her words reeled in my head. Do I ever say that? Was it possible to live a life where I could? Jesus was never in a hurry, even when His beloved friend, Lazarus, died. Jesus was purposeful, but not rushed.
I knew God had sent me a message. For some time, I have been hearing God say to me, “Come abide in Me. Fellowship with Me. Listen for My still small voice.” In fact, earlier this year, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to slow down, be on time, and learn to not over schedule. Sadly, I wasn’t succeeding very well as my frantic activity the day before showed.  
Rick Warren wrote the best seller, The Purpose Driven Life. Although I read that book last year and found it helpful, God continued to talk to me about living a “Presence Filled Life.”
Still unable to get the woman’s words out of my mind, I prayed the next morning, “Dear Father, help me slow down and delight in the present instead of using it as a vehicle to reach an unreachable future. Work in me, Lord God.”
I use a prayer journal during my quiet time and for some years have been writing out my prayers to God then switching to red ink what I believe I hear God saying to me. On this morning, God’s answer was as follows:
Dear Rushed, anxious child of Mine, I hold the future in My hands. All your anxious, frantic activity does not impact My plan at all; it only changes the quality of your life. If you allow Me to be Lord of your every moment; if you are able to focus on Me instead of yourself, you will find that life is a gift… all your moments have been squandered in your rushing bid for tomorrow. Yet I am Lord of tomorrow just as I am Lord of today. Can you slow down? Can you enjoy each gift; each breath; each new thing? I will help you. Do not be afraid. I am Lord even of this. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27) ~ Abba
I hear loudly and clearly that God wants a relationship with me. He wants me to practice His presence as Brother Lawrence wrote about in his classic book.* He wants me to glorify Him with my every act, every thought. It's hard to do that when you are living a day like I described earlier, when you can’t say “no” to anyone and when feel driven to do everything yourself. Yet God, in His great love, speaks to us even in times like that. He waits for us, His errant children, to turn towards home like the prodigal son.
I know he will answer my prayer for help overcoming a life long habit of hurry, busyness, and over scheduling. He is like that – always ready to meet us where we are when we confess our need for Him and desire to change our ways. He graciously put a woman – perhaps an angel – in my path to give me a one sentence wake up call, “I’m not in a hurry.” I am confident that soon I will be able to say that too.
*The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence.