Before you dismiss the question right away, remember that God will do almost anything to get your attention, and I can think of no more fantastic Biblical example than Balaam’s talking donkey in the book of Numbers.
So Dove chocolate bars seem rather tame.
I’ve been feeling stressed lately, having a rough go of it and too afraid to pray because I’m afraid of the answer I might get.
Last week I was trying to figure out how to work full time, go to seminary and continue my spiritual journey at Hope. And the longer I thought about it, the more frustrated and angry I became because there seemed to be no way to do all three things. There are simply not enough hours in the day.
My dreams reflected that frustration.
One night I dreamed I was at church and found a bag of tennis balls. Having taught myself to juggle when I was kid, I picked out three of the balls and started to juggle, but I kept dropping them. I couldn’t even juggle two tennis balls, let alone three.
Another night I dreamed I was looking for a new place to live and the first place I found was an old church, but just when I found my home, I realized I was late to the 8:00 service at Hope. No matter how hard I tried I wasn’t going to make it on time. I got stuck in traffic and then when I did get to Hope, I wasn’t ready and everyone was waiting for me.
When I explained my frustrations to Pastor Debbie, she had two words for me.
Slow down.
Slow down? Really? Why would I want to do that?
For twelve years I didn’t just live life in the slow lane, I lived it parked out on the shoulder somewhere, and now that I know where I’m going, I don’t want the slow lane. I want to make up for lost time. I want to get where I’m going as quickly as possible.
Slow down?
Usually when I’m stressed I subsist on chocolate, specifically Dove dark chocolate. So in the midst of my stress and frustrations last week, I had to laugh when the message written on the inside wrapper said, “Take advantage of every free moment you have.”
I had to laugh. Here I was ignoring my priest’s order to slow down, but God knew I couldn’t ignore what was written on a chocolate wrapper.
There may be a time in my life in the near future when I don’t have any free time, but right now I do have time and I can either spend that time worrying about the future, or I can take a breath, slow down, and make the most of the time I have now.
And then, most importantly, I can leave the rest to God.
God will work out the particulars in my life. The fact that I can’t figure them out on my own, just illustrates how much I need God and how wonderful God’s plan will be considering I can’t see it yet.
A few days after I read the message on the wrapper, I was reading Eugene Peterson’s The Pastor: A Memoir. In it, someone offers Peterson the exact same advice. “He warned us against shortcuts. He encouraged us … not to be in a hurry. ‘A lot is going on when you don’t think anything is going on.’”
God speaks. He always speaks. He never stops. He never gives up trying to reach us.
Look out and see just how He is speaking to you.
And look out for that chocolate. It may be good for you in ways you can’t imagine.
And it's a lot less startling than a talking donkey.
