Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
We saw that the particular kind of haste that this verse addresses is “such quickness of action as excludes due consideration or reflection." It is that rushing about from one thing to another without stopping to consider what we are doing or why we are doing it. We take no time to reflect upon what we are saying or doing to consider if it is necessary or appropriate.
In connection with this thought I would like to quote from an interesting book I am reading entitled The Circle of Simplicity by Cecile Andrews. Now I do not endorse everything in this book. It is peppered with not a little pagan, humanistic philosophy. But there is also some truth in the book worth considering. Remember that Satan is always mixing truth and error. Our job as mature believers is “to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14) and to “abhor that which is evil: cleave to that which is good” (Romans 12:9). Here is the quote taken from page 169 under the section entitled Moving Slowly:
To live mindfully, to appreciate your time, you have to move slowly. There’s nothing more difficult for Americans, and we have gotten worse in the last twenty years. Court reporters find that we talk faster. We walk faster, our movies are faster….
What is this addiction to stimulation? Sometimes I feel addicted to my own adrenaline. If I’m not rushing, feeling pressured, I feel like I’m missing something. Is this the only way we can feel alive now – by rushing? Are we mistaking the rush of caffeine for a feeling of vitality? Does rushing make us feel like we are doing something important, that we are important people? Are we all engaged in such meaningless work that we can only feel important if we feel pressured? Do we have to convince ourselves and others of the importance of our work to justify our existence?
Here is where mindfulness comes in. You must pay attention to your speed and consciously slow down. Maybe make that your mantra – slow down – saying it very slowly.
Rushing as we do means that things are always going wrong. You always drop things and break something and have to clean up, so it takes longer anyway. It’s like speeding and getting stopped by the police: you lose all the time you were trying to gain.
And, of course, in our rushing, we have no time to talk with people, so we get lonelier and lonelier.
In rushing, we have no time for reflection, no time to notice what is going on around us. We can’t reflect on warning signals that come to us – warning signals such as early signs that something is wrong with our health. Signs that you are starting to drive too fast. For instance, whenever I have a near miss in my car, I always say to myself, Ahh, a message from the universe (here is a sample of the paganism, BJM), and I slow down and become more careful in my driving.
There is some food for thought is that quotation, if you will slow down long enough to think about it. We do indeed make more mistakes when we are hasty because we are not taking time to consider what we are doing. And indeed Scripture teaches us as much. Haste resulted in Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, becoming lame.
2 Samuel 4:4 And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.
That haste that is quickness of action without due consideration or reflection will certainly result in our saying and doing some foolish things.
Proverbs 14:29 He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.
Proverbs 29:20 Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.
Those things we do in haste will leave us wanting and ashamed. We will not achieve what we meant to achieve if we act in haste.
Proverbs 21:5 The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.
Proverbs 25:8 Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.
How many are in want because of financial decisions made in haste without due consideration? How many times have you been quick to take someone to task over something only to be embarrassed in the end?
It is interesting to compare Isaiah 28:16 with how it is rendered in 1Peter 2:6, where it is quoted. Isaiah says: “he that believeth shall not make haste.” Peter says: “he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.” There is some connection between making haste and being confounded. This becomes apparent as we consider the definition of confounded.
Confounded – Discomfited, abashed, put to shame or mental confusion; confused, disordered, etc.
Examine your own life. Have you not experienced embarrassment, confusion, and disorderliness because you rushed headlong into things without due consideration and reflection? By contrast, those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ shall not make haste and, therefore, shall not be confounded. Our hectic, hurried way of life that excludes time to consider and reflect on our ways reveals a lack of trust in our Lord. We shall have more to saying about this in a coming meditation, God willing. In the meantime, go back and reread that quote I cited above and examine your own life in the light of it. Remember, “he that believeth shall not make haste.” Slow down!
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