The Revelation Of A Slow Move

by Rev. Len Keever

If we pay attention, God speaks in many things. As we were moving to our new home in Dunn, God showed me some things I’d like to share.

Nine years ago, about this time of year, Cathy and I were moving to Dunn. It was in many ways an easy move. The movers came on one day and boxed up all our “stuff.” They returned the next day to load our “stuff.” We drove to Dunn and on the third day, our “stuff” was unloaded and put away. We were only separated from our “stuff” one night. What made the move easy is that we were uninterrupted, focused on a new place and a new calling. We only had two jobs at the time: say good-bye and say hello.

Compare that to our move across town. It took months to prepare; lots of time to pack. Over weeks we carried over a load at a time. When the official moving day came it was three days long. We would still be moving if we didn’t have so many good friends helping. One day, in the midst of the move, I realized something that touched me: in the past when we moved people who hated to see us leave helped us pack and strangers welcomed us. In this move people who are glad we are here helped us move and friends who already love us helped us unpack. Anyway, we still have boxes to unpack. The move seemed to take forever. We thought we’d never get there. We worked our jobs by day and packed at night. Saturdays were spent planning, deciding what to keep and what to discard, cleaning and fixing. Then finally, after what seemed like months of working slowly, one night we were there. One morning we woke up and realized we were in a different place.

That’s the way it is in our spiritual life. Most of our growth as a Christian takes place over long periods of time. We work on it slowly, between interruptions and outside responsibilities, then one day, having been accompanied by friends who love us, we wake up and we realize we are not in the same place anymore. God has transformed us; faith has indeed changed us.

When is the last time you stopped to think about how God has changed you? When is the last time you slowed down long enough to realize that you are not who you once were and that your spiritual “stuff” isn’t where it once was? It takes time to become the person God wants us to be. It takes long nights and busy weekends to decide what is important and what can be discarded; what habit needs to be thrown away and what old belief needs to be shredded and burned. We don’t make these moves alone. So many of us are looking for quick fixes and overnight changes but that isn’t always the way of God. Change/transformation is more about the journey than an instantaneous event; moving closer to God is often achieved through a long string of choices and a steady discipline of focused attention.

Don’t give up on your prayers. Don’t give up on your desire to know Christ in greater portion. Keep moving . . . one day you will wake up and realize just how far God has already brought you. One day you will realize you were not alone in your journey.

Len Keever is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Dunn. This article originally appeared in their church newsletter, The Builder.