Squeeze! -- Don't Jerk!

The folly of hurry and benefits of being slow

There is hardly anything that can be enjoyed in a hurry!--A glass of wine, a walk, a talk, a ride, a view, a meal or an embrace! GOD IS HARDLY EVER IN A HURRY! It takes Him time to make a baby, a flower, a tree, a sunset, or even a blade of grass. He is hardly ever in a hurry, UNLESS HE IS ANGRY! He hardly ever does anything suddenly--except Judgement!

It's a funny thing, but thoughts like this used to come to me when I was a little boy sitting on the hill. I used to think and wonder what everything meant, that it was all an ILLUSTRATION of something--everything SAID something! The sea is always peaceful and quiet and slow and leisurely, except when there's a STORM.

Speed kills! Haste makes waste! Patience takes faith! If you're in a hurry, you miss things, lose things, forget things and wear out quickly. You live it UP, but you might not be able to live it DOWN. You marry in HASTE, but repent at LEISURE! You save a MINUTE, but lose a LIFE! You are penny-WISE, but pound FOOLISH.

If you go slow, you get there quicker--at least you get there. Better LATE than NEVER.--Better SAFE than SORRY! If you stop to LOOK before you LEAP, you may not HAVE to leap at all! A MISS is as good as a MILE! It takes time to aim straight.

In the army we had targets that moved, or were there just for a moment and then disappeared. Some of the boys were in such a hurry to shoot, for fear it would disappear, they missed it altogether. But I waited until I was sure I could hit the bull's-eye and made "sharpshooter"--an expert rifleman with nine out of ten in competition! Some were in such a hurry they got so excited their rifles waved around and they jerked the trigger so quick it jerked the whole rifle and caused them to miss the mark! SIN is missing the mark! I took time to rest my elbow FIRMLY, hold my rifle SECURELY, aim ACCURATELY and SQUEEZE the trigger SLOWLY!

SQUEEZE--don't JERK--or you'll miss something! Rome wasn't built in a day! The Lord told me once it takes time to build a house! Once when I was in a big hurry to do something, to know something, to make a decision, He told me, "First, you must lay the foundation solidly, then lay brick upon brick and stone upon stone firmly with mortar, each piece fitting accurately, and you cannot do this in a hurry, or you'll have a wall that will crumble. Then, over all, the roof must be laid securely, beam upon beam, rafter upon rafter, tile upon tile. Then come the plasterers, then the painters and finally the finishers--hanging windows and doors, ceilings and floors--and then at last, you have a building fitly joined together, a beautiful sight to see--a well-made structure built slowly and well to last!"

But I've seen some buildings thrown up in a hurry, as some crooked contractors used to joke: "Long enough to get out of them before they fall!"--And it was this kind that collapsed in the storm and slew its occupants! I saw thousands of these demolished in the Great Miami Hurricane!--Thousands of people were killed by faultily hastily-built construction which could not stand the wind of adversity.

You can have peace even in the midst of storm, if you know you are secure and at rest in a safe building--strong, solid, well-built, unmoved by the wildest gale. A GOOD building doesn't get up and run away, it's not BLOWN away by the storm. It just sits tight until it blows over!

The wicked hasteth to sin with his tongue--and with his feet and with his hands!-- Pro.19:2b . But WE are to wait upon the Lord! He that WAITS upon the Lord shall renew his strength (Isa.40:31a)--instead of wearing out! "Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he TRUSTETH in Thee." "They that BELIEVE have entered into rest." "He giveth His beloved REST!"-- Isa.26:3 ; Heb.4:3a ; Psa.127:2b .

Rest in the Lord! Patience takes faith. Tribulation worketh patience, because it COMPELS you to trust the Lord, to have faith in God for the outcome!-- Rom.5:3 .

"The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest. There is no rest, saith my God, for the wicked."-- Isa.57:20,21 . They are tossed to and fro and they cannot rest. No rest for the wicked!

"But there remaineth a rest for the Children of God!"-- Heb.4:9 .

Squeeze!--Don't jerk!--Or you'll miss something, and missing the mark of God is sin!

When Moses was in a hurry to deliver the Children of God, he killed the Egyptian and had to flee alone for his own life only. But after 40 years of patiently, humbly tending sheep in the wilderness with time to listen to the Voice of God instead of his own impulses, he was ready for the slow, laborious, patient work of the Exodus--slow, but sure!

The hare never made it, but the tortoise did!

Then 40 days and nights on the mountain and he heard from God, but in one split second of anger, he broke all Ten Commandments and lost the whole thing, and had to go back and spend another 40 days; his haste took him twice as long.

My wife used to say to me on the way to some meeting or appointment, "Now, Honey, we don't have time for any of your shortcuts", because she knew what usually happened when I started cutting across country, trying to find a quicker way. We usually got lost entirely and wound up later than ever! Squeeze, don't jerk, or you'll miss the mark--and that's a sin.

Sometimes my wife gets very impatient with me, because I don't answer her immediately when she asks me a question. But it takes TIME to THINK and PRAY, to be sure you give the RIGHT ANSWER. Anybody can shoot off his mouth immediately, but is he really saying anything? Be slow to speak and slow to anger. Go slow, take your time, you'll enjoy it more--even love-making! You'll get more out of life.

My Father used to sing a little ditty: "Never let yourself get worried, hurried or flurried, or else you'll find yourself getting harried, married or buried!"

Squeeze, don't jerk, or you'll miss the mark--and that's a sin!

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard" (Pro.6:6a)--but it takes time even to study the busy little antics of the ant, to learn anything from him. "Be thou not slothful, but diligent in business" (Rom.12:11)--the sloth hangs there all day on the limb with his eyes shut, sleeping--scarcely moving, till he looks like he's part of the tree. He's not just SLOW--he acts like he's dead!

When on the firing line, I was neither hasty nor did I forget to fire altogether, but I took reasonable time to aim straight and SQUEEZE, not jerk!

"Be temperate in all things--let your moderation be known to all men!"-- 1Cor.9:25 ; Phil.4:5 . Don't run too fast, lest you stumble, and don't just sit there! Do something, but walk circumspectly!-- Eph.5:15 .

Squeeze, don't jerk, or you may miss the mark--and that's a sin!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family International

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