Slowdowns and Sacrifice (Friday Devotional)

 

I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.

- Ephesians 4:1-2

You might be on a particularly narrow stretch of sidewalk, with mud on either side. Or maybe you’re in an especially crowded space, where there’s no room to maneuver around anyone. You could even be behind someone using a walker or a cane, feeling stuck in place while they methodically trudge forward.

Whatever the specifics, we all know the feeling of walking behind someone who is moving slower than you are and being unable to pass them. While such a delay almost never costs you more than a few seconds, it feels like an eternity. With every plodding step the person in front of you takes, you feel your irritation grow—can’t they just move a little faster???

The answer, of course, is often no; people are rarely slowing you down on purpose. But impatience is not one of our more rational emotions. It doesn’t care what excuses others have, only what priorities you have.

Such little slowdowns, then—whether like those described above, or time spent in rush hour traffic, or those moments waiting for someone to return your phone call—can be learning opportunities. Instead of viewing such delays as inconveniences, you can understand them as exercises in humility, instances where you are forced to put somebody else’s needs above your own.

One command believers are consistently given in Scripture—in both the Old and New Testaments—is to be patient with both the Lord and your neighbors. Biblical authors from the prophets to Paul understood that even the most faithful followers of God struggle with subjecting themselves to someone else’s timeline.

But love often requires patience. It means swallowing your own pride and priorities for the sake of someone else’s. It means sacrificing what you feel you deserve so that somebody else can flourish. And yes, it might even mean slowing down when you’d rather they speed up.

So as we enter a season when your schedule is not always your own, let me encourage you to see the occasional slowdown as a blessing instead of a curse. Bearing with others can be a drag—but it can also be a small gesture of love.