God’s Pace: Enjoying a 3-Mile-An-Hour God
“He is the slowest God,” my friend blurted out—partly joking, partly frustrated.
I’ve been pondering that phrase.
It was no slip of the tongue. We live in a world obsessed with speed. We want overnight breakthroughs, instant sanctification, and drive-thru answers from Heaven. When we encounter a delay, our immediate assumption is that something is wrong.
But what if the very delays that frustrate us are actually invitations?
What if we’re sprinting toward self-imposed deadlines that God never asked us to meet? Our flesh constantly demands outward, visible results. We want the shiny exterior. But God is almost always after something much slower and far more valuable: the inward gold, silver, and precious stones of faith, hope, and love.
The Audacity of a Walking God
There is a brilliant book by Japanese theologian Kosuke Koyama titled Three Mile an Hour God. In it, he points out a stunning reality about the incarnation.
When the eternal Son of God took on flesh to rescue humanity, He didn't come with wings. He didn't ride a chariot of fire. He didn't teleport from town to town to maximize His ministry metrics.
He became a baby. He grew up. And then, He simply walked.
Jesus was never rushed. The average speed of a human walk is about three miles per hour. Think about the sheer, holy audacity of that: the Savior of the cosmos healed the sick, discipled the twelve, and forever transformed human history—all at a three-mile-per-hour walking pace.
Love has a speed. And it is slow.
You cannot speed-read your kids to sleep. You cannot microwave a deep, resilient friendship. And you certainly cannot rush your relationship with the Lord of Heaven and Earth.
The High Cost of Haste
When there is chaos and unrest in our souls, it almost always stems from either running from something or running after something. That internal noise eventually leaks out, leading to poor, hasty decisions.
History is littered with tragic examples of what happens when we refuse to slow down:
The Chernobyl Disaster: Exacerbated by bypassing basic safety equipment to save time. Millions of lives lost.
The Challenger Explosion: Ignored the need to replace simple O-rings due to launch pressure. All lives on board lost.
The Titanic: Sped through an iceberg-laden sea to arrive early and impress investors. Over 1,500 drowned.
King Saul (1 Samuel 13): Ruined his kingship by rushing a holy sacrifice, simply because he panicked over what the impatient crowds would think.
Haste really is a waste.
Rushing through our spiritual lives is like sprinting with all your might through a massive airport, finally arriving exhausted at your gate, only to realize you’re at the wrong one. We often think we are speeding up God’s plan, when in reality, we are just moving further away from His best for us.
The Ministry of the Present Moment
John Piper once shared a defining piece of advice from his father: Be in the room that you are in.
The present is a present. But you cannot open it if you are always mentally living in tomorrow.
Look at how Jesus handled the intense pressure of ministry in Luke 8. He’s urgently called to the home of Jairus, a synagogue ruler whose twelve-year-old daughter is dying. The situation is a literal matter of life and death. As He walks toward the house, the crowds are crushing Him.
Suddenly, a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years touches the fringe of His garment and is instantly healed.
Jesus stops. He doesn't panic about Jairus's daughter. He doesn't check His watch.
He pauses to minister to the woman, calling her "Daughter" and sending her away in peace. Even when the devastating news arrives that Jairus's daughter has died, Jesus remains unhurried. He is perfectly anchored in the Father's timing. He arrives at the house, takes the girl by the hand, and raises her from the dead.
Slowing Down to Enjoy Jesus
Jesus could operate this way because He was absolutely captivated by, and secure in, the Father's unchanging love. That is the secret to going at God's pace. If we do not know God as an amazingly tender Father, we will always struggle to rest in the present moment. We will always feel the need to perform, to rush, and to prove our worth.
When Jesus' ministry exploded in popularity (Luke 5), and massive crowds gathered with real, urgent needs, His response was completely counter-cultural: "But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray."
Even when His dear friend Lazarus was dying, Jesus waited. He endured criticism and misunderstanding from the people closest to Him because He trusted the Father's provision at the Father's pace. And as we see in the resurrection of Lazarus, choosing God's pace over our own always leads to joy.
The prophet Isaiah gave us an incredible anchor for our souls when he wrote: "Whoever believes will not be in haste" (Isaiah 28:16).
If you are feeling burnt out, rushed, or anxious today, this is your invitation to slow down. The Lord is not tapping His foot, waiting for you to hurry up and achieve more for Him. He is inviting you to walk with Him at three miles per hour.
Slow down. Breathe. The ultimate goal of your life isn't maximum productivity—it’s the pure, unhurried enjoyment of the eternal and infinitely wonderful Christ.
