Even though I’m Asian I never had piano lessons. I don’t really feel like I missed out on anything, but I did want a metronome. I would often stare at the metronome at my friend’s house, watching it go back and forth like the world’s smallest tennis match.
Metronomes are tools to help people keep rhythm. Unfortunately there isn’t a metronome for our lives.
More often than not our lives get out of rhythm. We live in a busy world that asks more and more from us. We strive to meet the expectations of others and we run ourselves ragged trying to match our society’s speed. The metronome of our lives is set to fast and it doesn’t show any sign of slowing down.
While we don’t have a metronome for our lives, we can look to Jesus for a better way to set our tempo.
Jesus had a longer to do list and faced more expectations than any of us ever will. He caused a commotion wherever he went and faced villages full of people who simply wanted to see him. That’s not to mention all those who lined up with hopes of getting healed.
Instead of bowing to the expectations and pressure of others, though, Jesus looked to the Father to set his tempo. Jesus was all about the work of his Father, often leaving places where there was still work to do in order to go to a new area. Jesus was only able to set his tempo to the Father’s will because he carved out time for him.
In the gospels we often see Jesus withdrawing to lonely places for silence and solitude. Jesus’s seasons of activity were fueled by the time he spent with God. Jesus knew there was work to do, but he could only accomplish that work through the time he spent with his Father.
When we spend time with God we realize how little the expectations and tempo of the world around us matter. If we are connected to God then we will know his will regardless of the situations we face. Instead of committing ourselves to the rat race, we’ll commit ourselves to wherever God leads us. During any given season God’s will might be for us to slow down the tempo of our lives or to ramp it up. We can trust, though, whatever tempo at which God wants us to move will be the best tempo for us.
So I’m trusting that this week God wants me to slow down and have a little staycation. I can say that because I know God has a season coming where I’ll need to throttle my tempo a little bit. And, if like Jesus I can spend time with God even in the midst of a busy season, I know that God will get me through it.
What helps you set your metronome to the Father’s will?
You can listen to the sermon upon which this post is based here.
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