When I was a young engineer selling software for a fast paced tech company, I would tell new employees, “Buckle up—we are going 100 mph! Maybe 110!”
I lived a fast paced life. I averaged four flights a week. My sales region spanned from the West coast of the USA to Canada to the East coast of USA to Europe. I was always on the move.
After long work days, I had dinners and drinks with clients most evenings.
And I loved it.
I was an young healthy guy in my early 20s back then, and I had my dream job. I loved my work, and I had energy for this hard work.
Until I didn’t.
After a couple of years, I got tired.
The satisfaction in landing a big sale (and a big commission) began to wain. I was longing for more purpose and satisfaction in my life.
After a long a painful journey, I found the purpose and satisfaction I was looking for in the person of Jesus. He filled up what was lacking. He satisfied the deep longings of my soul. And I have been following Him ever since.
But I still have a problem.
I can’t seem to slow down.
I traded a fast paced life of large account software sales for a fast paced life of serving Jesus in ministry. Of course, I am passionate about Jesus and want to see his ways and His peace spread all over the world.
So I worked for Jesus the way I worked in Tech–at 100 miles per hour.
I spent years working long hours and sacrificing things like sleep and health and family for the Kingdom of God. Then I found that was not sustainable or healthy or even what Jesus was calling me to do.
I was sacrificing things He never called me to sacrifice.
It turns out that Jesus cares not just about the purpose of my work, but about the pace of my work. And the pace of my life.
Jesus offers me not just a great purpose for my work, but an “easy and light” way to live.
I have a lot to learn from the master.
Jesus lived at 3 miles per hour. Not 100 mph.
3 miles per hour is the speed that humans walk. And Jesus seemed just fine to walk at this speed.
At this speed, Jesus saw people. Really saw them and their needs and desires. Jesus never seemed distracted or hurried.
This is the way I want to live. The way of Jesus. I desire this kind of Jesus pace of life, but I have so much to learn. My natural posture is to go fast and try to do more. I have decades of practice at living at 100 mph. (And some crashes to go with it.)
But as an apprentice of Jesus, I am trying to learn a new way to live. His way. The way of the Kingdom. The way of life where love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, and self-control flow out of me.
The way of life where I see people. Really see them and their needs. To be present in the moment and not dragged into the past or worried about the future.
So after years of living at 100 miles per hour, it now seems harder to go slow than to go fast.
But I am confident that Jesus was teach me how to live at 3 mph.
So I am trying to align my life with Him. And hey, there is a bonus…
No seatbelts required.