We live, work, and play in a very fast-paced world where things and life are always moving at a much faster speed than we would want or desire.  It just seems that everyone, everywhere, wants to speed things up, work at a faster pace, or even play harder and longer because there is already so little time to get everything done.  Simply put, we as a society, are always in just too big of a hurry.  We don’t take the time to enjoy the precious present, the moment in which we are living.

Beauty is all around us.  Sights, smells, emotions, touches, and sounds cascade into our human senses daily, and yet we seldom take or make a small extra moment of time to recognize these “sense stimulators” and enjoy them for what they are,….God-given blessings to our lives.

God is never in a rush or hurry to get the things He has planned for our individual lives completed or finished.  We must always remember that we, as God Created human beings, are not made for this world but rather for another higher and greater world than the physical one in which we live today.

God always has been and remains to be the One and Only Person who is in complete control of the timing, the people, and the events that will comprise the balance of what God wants us to experience as we live our lives on this earth.  If you really want to mess things up in your life, just begin trying to push or boss God and His time table around into a different pace than He originally laid out for your life.

Permit me to share with you a short but powerful story about a man and his son who were going about their affairs in totally different directions, and at totally different paces.  Billy Rose originally shared this story.  Its impact and meaning has never changed and never will.  The moral: Slow down…enjoy the moment and the things and people that make them up.  

God’s pace is always the right pace.

A story please………..

There once was a fellow who, with his dad farmed a little piece of land.  Several times a year they would load up the old ox-drawn cart with vegetables and go into the nearest city to sell their produce.  Except for their name and the patch of ground, father and son had very little in common.  The old man believed in taking life easy.  He believed in stopping to “smell the roses” as he went about the living of his own life.  On the other hand, the boy was almost always in a big hurry to get whatever he was doing speeded up to an early completion.  He was a real go-getter type young man.

One morning, bright and early, they hitched up the ox to the loaded cart and started on a long journey.  The son figured that if he could force the ox to walk faster and if he kept the animal pulling the cart all day and night, they would be able to make it to the market by early the next morning.   So the son kept on prodding the ox with a stick, urging the beast to get a move on.

“Take it easy son,” said the old man.  “You’ll last longer.”

“But if we get to the market ahead of the others, we’ll have a better chance of getting good prices,” argued the son.

No reply.  The father just pulled his hat down over his eyes and fell asleep on the seat.  Itchy and irritated, the young man just kept goading the ox to walk faster and faster.  His stubborn pace refused to change.

Four hours and four miles down the road, they came to a little house.  The father woke up, smiled, and said, “Here is your uncle’s place.  Let’s stop in and say hello.” 

“But we have lost an hour already,” complained the hotshot.

“Then a few more minutes won’t really matter.  My brother and I live so close to each other, yet we see each other so seldom,” the father answered slowly.

The boy fidgeted and fumed while the two old men laughed and talked away almost another hour.  On the move again, the old man took his turn leading the ox.  As they approached a fork in the road, the father led the ox to the right side of the fork.

“The left fork is the shorter way,” said the son.

“I know it,” replied the old man “but this way is so much prettier.”

“Have you no respect for time?” the young man asked impatiently.

“Oh, I respect it very much!  That is exactly why I like to look at the beauty around me and enjoy each moment to the fullest.”

The winding path led through graceful meadows, wildflowers, and along a rippling stream–all of which the young man missed as he churned within, preoccupied and boiling with anxiety.  He didn’t even notice how lovely the sunset was that day.

Twilight found them in what looked like a huge, colorful garden.  The old man breathed in the sweet aroma, listened to the bubbling brook, and pulled the ox to a halt.  “Let’s sleep right here,” he sighed.

“This is the last trip I am ever taking with you,”  snapped his son.  “You’re more interested in watching sunsets and smelling flowers than in making money!”

“Why, that’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me in a long…long time,” smiled the dad.  A couple of minutes later he was snoring–as his son glared back at the stars.  The night dragged slowly, the son was restless.

Before sunrise, the young man hurriedly shook his father awake.  They hitched up the cart to the ox and continued on their journey to the market. About a mile down the road they happened upon another farmer–a total stranger–trying to pull his cart out of a muddy ditch into which he had slid.

“Let’s give him a hand,” whispered the old man.

“And lose more time?” the boy exploded.

“Relax, son…you just might be in a ditch sometime yourself.  We need to always help other people who are in need–don’t ever forget that.”  The boy looked away in anger.

It was almost eight o’clock that morning by the time the other cart was out of the ditch and back on the road.  Suddenly, a great blinding flash split the entire sky.  What sounded like heavy crashing thunder followed.  Beyond the hills, the sky grew very dark and foreboding.

“Looks like big rain in the city,” said the old man.

“If we had hurried, we’d be almost sold out by now,” grumbled his son.

“Take it easy…you’ll last longer.  And you will enjoy life so much more,” counseled the kind old gentleman.

It was late in the afternoon by the time they got to the hill overlooking the city.  They stopped and stared down at it for a long,…long time.  Neither of them said a word.  Finally, the young man put his hand on his father’s shoulder and said, “I now see what you mean, Dad.”

They turned their cart around and began to roll slowly away from what once had been known as the city of Hiroshima, Japan.

God Almighty never makes a mistake.  His timing is always perfect regardless of what the circumstances surrounding you and your efforts appear to be.

Blessings and Encouragement to You………………