Hurry Up by Slowing Down

Here's the way John Maxwell says it:

"A minute of thinking is often more valuable than an hour of talk or unplanned work."

Never in the history of humankind has there been so much access to so much information in so little time. A byproduct of the incredible technology revolution is that information and opinions on any topic are literally at our fingertips. There is no information that can't be immediately accessed on your computer or the world wide web on your cell phone. Nor is there a shortage of voices that can tell us just about anything we want to know on any subject. (If you don't agree with me, ask yourself when you last visited the research section at your local library to find information on a topic. Or....when was the last time you opened a World Book or Encyclopedia Britannica to learn some information about a topic?)
Living in the midst of this wave of information sure has its advantages. Yet as with most good things, there can be a bad side to all this. Independent thinking is quickly vanishing. Taking time to think through a matter almost seems wrong in light of the new emphasis that we have on the speed of gathering information. When God spoke through the psalmist the words "Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10, He was saying it's good to cease from personal efforts and frenetic schedules and simply take time to slow down. When we do that He makes Himself known to us. One minute of quiet thinking can rumble with the thunder of good decisions.
Now that's the heart of the matter.

"Now I Get It"

C.S. Lewis once said that the first words we will utter in heaven will be, Oh! Now I see! Lewis understood that there are events and issues in our lives that are part of an unknown, divinely planned, bigger picture. There are some things, according to Lewis, we won't understand until we are glorified in heaven.
We want explanations for everything. I often encounter people looking for a key answer for why bad things happen in lives. My best advice is that on this side of heaven we may never know. That goes for personal tragedies and yes, for national tragedies, such as what we are witnessing in Haiti. In recent days there has been a plethora of possible explanations for the horrific death and destruction left by the earthquake in Haiti: Global warming, a Haitian pact with Satan and the neglect of the 3rd World are a few of the desparate attempts to explain how 200,000 people could die in this tragedy.
Here's what we know: We don't know why it happened, but we are called to help. Later on we might "get it"; right now our response as Christ-followers is to be a part of the soloution, not the explanation.
Now that's the heart of the matter.