Monday Morning Manna: Fast Lanes and Country Roads

There’s a not-so-recent country song by Barbara Mandrell that says, “I’m ready to trade the fast lane for a country road.” I’ve been there, haven’t you? Sometimes life just gets to moving too fast, rushing by as if we were standing still. One of the recent discoveries I’ve made as a part of the aging process is my inability to multi-task like I used to do. For instance, if I’m driving and, also carrying on a conversation with someone in the vehicle, I just might make a wrong turn, and eventually find myself somewhere other than where I was headed. A few years ago, I would never have made that mistake. But the circumstances of my life occasionally overcrowd my ability to manage them. Life is downloading more than I can store at one time. Is there a solution? I’m not sure, but it seems to help if I just slow down a little, stop trying to accomplish as much in a given time period as I used to, perhaps put a little more time between big events, etc. I wonder if this is why Jesus made a habit of getting up “a long while before daylight” in order to find “a solitary place” (Mark 1:35); why He often “withdrew into the wilderness” (Luke 5:16); why He occasionally spent “all night in prayer” (Luke 6:12). So, sometimes, I just need to get out of the fast lane. Anyone want to join me on that country road?

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.