In part one we talked about what hurry is actually costing you. Today I want to go a layer deeper because the problem isn’t just that we’re busy. It’s what we’re missing while we are.”

Have you ever stood in front of something so breathtaking it stopped you completely? Maybe an incredible sunset, a mountain range, or a piece of architecture that has been standing for thousands of years.

True beauty, the kind you have to stand in awe of, does that to you. It takes you outside of yourself and demands that you slow down and soak it in.

Walking Past God Every Day

Here’s what I can’t stop thinking about…

While it’d be unthinkable to walk idly past one of those magnificent views without stopping to take it in, that’s exactly what we do most days with God.

We casually glance in His direction a couple times a week, spending 15-30min in the AM in Scripture or in prayer but then we’re off the races the rest of our day.

And then we wonder why the gospel feels like information we “know” rather than a life-changing truth that is transforming us.

You cannot be changed by that which you refuse to slow down for

Glancing Is Not Beholding

BEHOLDING God is what transforms us. Not knowing about Him.

It requires stillness, sitting, contemplating, Letting His love, His promises, His mercy, His goodness, His power and compassion and sovereignty over your life actually soak into the walls of our often-calloused heart.

Beholding requires something of me that I rarely feel like I can afford to give: TIME.

The willingness to stop producing for long enough to actually receive something.

How do you expect to be transformed by the gospel when you do little more than casually glance at it each day?

You cannot behold what you are rushing past.

Beholding Transforms

Scripture is full of commands for us to “behold” to “consider” to “meditate on” to “set our minds on”. Ever thought about why?

It’s because truth known doesn’t create transformation but truth integrated does.

And much like steeping a tea bag into a hot mug of water, we have to sit with the truth long enough for its properties to diffuse and transfer into our hearts.

Far too often I find myself rushing through my day, rushing through my week, rushing through my LIFE at superhuman velocity. And for what? To achieve more? To get more done?

The transformation I actually need, the kind that changes how I lead and how I love and who I’m becoming only happens when I sit down and actually let God’s love reach me.

How?

Tomorrow morning, before the day gets going and the fires start, leave your phone on the other side of the room and sit for five minutes to “behold” an attribute of God or truth of the gospel.

Perhaps it’s His patience.

• Choose a single verse that speaks of His patience (Psalm 103:8)
• Read it slowly, emphasize different words, sit with it.
• Personalize it (“God, You are merciful to me, gracious to me, slow to anger with me”)
• Identify the lie you often believe that makes these truths hard to see
• Picture God’s face looking at you, merciful, gracious, patient – and thank Him.

NEXT WEEK: PART 3 of 5

In part three I want to get really practical about what’s actually driving all of this. Because naming the cost and knowing what you’re missing still doesn’t answer the harder question: why can’t I just stop? The answer might surprise you.