Learning To Be Both Fast & Slow with Rick Warren

hello Saddleback and Happy Thanksgiving can you believe this year is almost over have you decided what you're buying me for Christmas but have you pull out your message notes we're continuing in part four this series the eight skills that you need to succeed in life and in work now we've looked at three different skills so far this weekend I want us to look at the skill of timing the title of the message is called learning to be both fast and slow and let me explain it a little bit every great accomplishment ever in history has an element of timing to it when you're watching a football game and you see a football player catch a beautiful pass it's only because they had worked out the timing between the quarterback and the wide receiver and if that timing is off there's no reception it's all a matter of timing now this is true in every area of life it's true in business any business investor will tell you that timing is a large part of knowing when to buy knowing when to sell knowing when to make a deal knowing when to merge and knowing when not to merge when to diversify it's all a matter of timing if you are a singer you have to know how to sing the notes at the right time if you're a musician you know how to have to keep time in the beat if you are a speaker you have to know good timing in the way you deliver the words the secret between a funny joke and a joke that bombs is often a matter of timing and if you have comedic timing you're just good at it and if you don't you suck at it the key to being a great speaker and creating tension in in a speech is timing timing now this is true in every area of life you know we're in a political season now running for elected office has a large degree of influence is influenced by timing and some of our candidates are realizing they're running in the wrong election cycle they should have run earlier they should stayed later because one minute you're a hero and the next minute you're a zero timing is everything in life this week I was told that Saddleback once again was named the most influential American church this time by news Newsmax magazine it's we've been named it several times and to a large degree Saddleback's influence around the world is simply because we're good at timing we call it walking in the spirit we watch what God is doing in the world and we say we're gonna get involved in that I never never pray god bless what I'm doing never I pray God help me to do what your blessing and I look around the world and I see oh God's doing that and God's doing that and God's doing that I'd like to get in on that and then my prayer is God would you give me the privilege of just being a part of what you happen to be doing at this particular moment in history and so being sensitive to how God works in the world is really a matter of timing the Bible says it like this there on the top of your outline Ecclesiastes eight six there is a right time and there's a right way to do everything but we know so little now that implies that timing no doing the right time that's timing and doing it in the right way that's execution that both of those are skills and we don't happen to know those skills so we're not very good at it but it means that you can learn these things and that's why we're doing this series on skills by the way next Sunday night at all of our campuses 4:00 p.m. will be our monthly salt meeting salt stands for Saddleback advanced Leadership Training and we teach these kind of skills at salt every month if you've graduated from class 301 or you're involved in volunteering in any ministry in our church you're eligible to come to Salt Saddleback advance leadership training and I teach lessons on leadership the stuff I've trained world leaders in around the world over the last 35 years I'm teaching to our own people and so I would invite you to be a part of that skill training you know years ago when I wrote the book Purpose Driven Church back in the 90s the first chapter was called surfing spiritual waves and I compared leadership to surfing because here in Southern California of course we got a lot of surfers I used to have a board and was very poor at surfing but had a lot of fun doing at it falling off the board but surfers don't create waves surfers only surf the waves that God makes you've never seen a surfer who said oh let's go create a way because you can't create a wave you just have to wait for God to send one in and a surfing involves a lot of patience and you paddle out and then you wait for that perfect wave to come and then it's actually harder than it looks because you've got to learn how to surf the wave you got to learn how to balance on the wave you got to learn how to get off the wave without wiping out and it's actually more skilled than a lot of people realize but no surfer has ever tried to create a wave he or she simply surfs the waves that God creates and that's what we've tried to do at Saddleback for 35 years we don't try to create a waves of God's working we just say what is God doing and we move slow when God moves slow and we move fast when God moves fast I want to talk to you about that this weekend because it's a skill you must learn to succeed in your life there is a rhythm to life there is a rhythm to love and there is a rhythm to leadership and so sometimes you have to move fast and sometimes you have to move slow wise people know how to cooperate with those rhythms in life and as I said that's often called walking in the spirit where you learn to sense when to go fast and when to go slow I was laughing that last week when pastor Tommy was teaching remember when he talked about how he hates to run remember that and you know he said Tommy don't run and I laughed at all four services when he said that but the Bible actually does have a lot to say about running in fact the Bible compares your life to a race and the Bible tells us that Jesus had a sense of urgency about his life in his ministry in fact about 15 times in the Bible the word Jesus and the word immediately are in the same verse and it says and Jesus immediately did this some people think Jesus was always slow sometimes he was fast sometimes he was very fast and immediately Jesus did this he healed that person and he went to this place and he confronted that person on and on and on and just as Jesus had a sense of urgency so did Paul let me show you some verses here on the screen the Bible says in first Timothy 6:12 run hard and fast in the faith God wants you to run hard God wants you to run fast in the faith that's the message paraphrase then the Bible says first Corinthians 9:24 run in such a way as to get the prize now notice he doesn't say walk he says run sometimes you need to go fast and then the next verse says this first Corinthians 9 26 I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step Paul was Purpose Driven and then one more verse Philippians 3:12 I run to win I run to win so let's look first at what does God want me to do when he wants me to move fast when does he want me to move with speed and now this is not an exhaustive list it's just a representative I could have given you a very very long list many many others but this is just representative of when God wants you to move fast and because it's that I'm going to go through it very quickly so you have to write fast number one I should move fast when God tells me to do something when God tells me to do something I should move fast to do it now the Bible is filled with all kinds of life instructions they're called the commands of God the decrees of God they're called the precepts of God and God expects us to obey his commands how many of you are parents could I see your hands what if your child came to you and you said I want you to do this and I want you to obey me and they said I'll think about it there would be consequences but we do that to God all the time God says I want you to do that I'll think about it oh really so I have the authority to tell God I'll think about it that's as much rebellion as it is a child saying that to a parent when the Creator comes up with an idea he expects us to do it every parent knows that delayed obedience is disobedience if a child says well I'll do it when I get around to it that's not obedience that's disobedience the Bible says God wants us to move fast when he tells us to do something a couple examples mark 1 17 and 18 Jesus said to them come follow me so Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets not the next day not the next week immediate left their nets and followed him what does it mean they left their job they walked away from their job when a guy said to them come follow me that's immediate obedience immediate obedience the Bible says in psalm 119 verse 60 without delay I hurry to obey I'll hurry to obey your commands circle the word hurry we often think hurry in a negative term today it reminds us of stress problems pressures and the hurry and worry and bustle but hurry is always a good word when it comes to obedience the Bible says I hurry to obey your commands so my question as I start is to simply ask you what is it that you know God's told you to do and you haven't started doing it yet you know it and you're not doing it God says I want you to do it quickly what are you waiting on number two I should move fast not only when God tells me to do something I should move fast when I need to ask or offer forgiveness now this is really for your own benefit because your body was not designed to carry guilt and resentment I should move quickly when I need to ask forgiveness or offer forgiveness we spend much of our lives abusing our bodies because of guilt over something we've done to others and over bitterness over something other people have done to us doctors say you could clear out about 50% of the people in hospitals today if they knew how to get rid of guilt and bitterness guilt and resentment and what we do is we crucify ourselves between two crosses guilt and resentment for the past and worry about the future and we mess up today as a result God says you should never carry guilt or you should never carry resentment it's like poison in your body you need to deal with it immediately I move fast the Bible says in Matthew 5 verse 22 and 23 is from the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says if you're giving an offering at worship and you suddenly remember that somebody is something against you in other words they've got a grudge or something against you leave your offering and go immediately circle that go immediately to that person and be reconciled then you can come back to worship and offer your gift in other words don't ever use worship as an excuse to procrastinate dealing with somebody now this is not rocket science when I say who is it you need to get right with you immediately know that person that you've had a grudge against or they've had a grudge against you and there's been strain there's been tension God says why are you carrying that I never meant for your body to carry that guilt or I never meant for your body to carry that resentment who do you need to reconcile with you need to do it quickly the law every day that you don't do it you harm yourself mentally spiritually and even physically number three I should move fast when I feel tempted the Bible says that when I'm tempted I need to move quickly out of the tempting situation now I've talked about this before in detail we've studied temptation that you need to have preventive strategies to keep you from being tempted and you need emergency strategies which are kind of like the panic button when all of a sudden you're tempted in a situation you didn't realize was going to come up and all of a sudden you're there on a business trip or they're in front of the television or they're in a hundred other places and you weren't expecting the temptation that came out of the left field and all of a sudden you're just overwhelmed with the desire to do something you know is neither good for you and are good for others and not honoring to God what do you do in those emergencies well the Bible says real quickly run it says run get away from the situation don't try when you are in them in the moment of temptation you're being tempted and it could be financial temptation to cheat it could be a sexual temptation it could be any kind of 10 there are thousands of temptations in that moment never argue with the temptation you're going to lose you're going to lose because emotions take over and emotions aren't logical you can be logical all you want when you're emotional on something it just takes over that's why when I was a youth pastor many years ago and I used to tell kids don't decide that you're going to be sexually pure and save yourself for marriage in the back seat of a car that's not when you decide because you've got to decide long before that so you don't end end up there because if you end up in the backseat of a car you're going to move by your glands not your plans and those hormones are going to kick in and you're just overwhelmed so the Bible says listen when you are tempted it says don't fight it don't resist it replace it run that's as simple as turn the channel get out of the situation if you don't want to get stung get away from the bees if you're trying if change that I don't want to drink alcohol anymore then you don't go to bars for the pretzels okay you just don't you don't put yourself in those situations now here's what the Bible says 1st Timothy 6 11 run away from all evil things 1st Corinthians 10 run away from the worship of idols so I don't worship any idols oh you do all the time you idolize all kinds of stuff what's an idol I'm not talking about a little God sitting on a desk here an idol is anything you put before God your boat could be an idol your job could be an idol your spouse could be an idol your children could be an idol anything that you put first place in your life before God that's called idolatry they may be good but they don't deserve to have God's role in your life any time you take a person and you elevate them above God and their opinion matters to you more than God you've just made an idol and so we idolize things all the time the Bible says run from worship of idols the Bible says in 1st Corinthians 6 run away from sexual sin so he's saying here when do I move fast when God tells me to do something I do it immediately when do I move fast when I need to ask or offer forgiveness and when do I move fast when I'm feeling tempted I need to just get out of the situation don't fight it flee it don't resist it run from it replace it turn your mind unto something else number 4 the Bible says that I should move fast when I've made a promise to God when I've made a promise to God God expects me to keep it and sooner rather than later now we've all made promises to God that we've forgotten or even gotten lazy about the Bible says this in Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 4 when you make a promise to God keep it as quickly as possible notice that in other words I should move fast keep it as quickly as possible God is not happy with foolish people and he said it's foolish to make a promise and then not keep it do what you promised to do so question what promise do you need to keep and you need to do it this week you need to do it now maybe you made a promise some of you made a promise to read through the Bible maybe even read it in the ear and you got bogged down and just gave up or you made a promise to invite somebody to church and then you just kind of got lazy and didn't do it he made a promise to yourself or to God that you were going to start serving somewhere we've all made promises to God God says if you make a promise God fulfill it immediately keep it as quickly as possible you know last spring most of us made a financial commitment we made financial promises it was called daring faith and we all committed together for the next three years to give gifts to do a whole bunch of the daring faith projects that we're doing over three years I want to encourage you to fulfill that promise early if at all possible to do it as quickly as you can I've done I've been through maybe 10 or 12 of these campaigns personally and I found that the longer I wait the harder it gets so I'll just give you a little advice if you're serious about keeping your promise to God try to complete it early rather than late I would challenge you to give whatever commitment you made that's between you and God give 50% of it your first year and then maybe 25% your second here and maybe 25% your third year why because it gets harder as time goes on I would encourage you to do that and I'll tell you a little secret because I've learned this from personal experience when you make a promise to God and then you fulfill it before you said you would fulfill it God goes crazy with blessing God opens the floodgates of blessing in your life God says that guy I can depend on that guy is responsible that guy is a person of integrity he she keeps her word they keep their promise and there's almost nothing that God won't do for the person who shows integrity and responsibility and so I would encourage you whatever promise you made to God try to fulfill it before it's actually due and when you do you will be amazed at the blessing that comes in your life I want to give you an example that I just heard it today would you give a warm welcome to Terry and Christine Douglas Thanks hi there I'm Terry and this is my wife Christine we'd like to share just a few minutes with you about how God has been teaching us to do some things fast and do something slow but nonetheless do it in his timing Christine and I have always been active in church and we've served the Lord in many ways and at the same time God has also blessed us in in business and I for some reason with his blessing was promoted real early in my career in my early 30s to vice-president running some companies but when the daring faith came along last spring we really knew that 2015 was going to be a defining year for both of us and our family so during this faith stretching time we actually made some financial commitments on faith and we believed that God would take care of us doing it though we really didn't have an understanding of what that would really mean so first we actually began to change the way that we tithe we began not just tithing on the after-tax dollars but on everything that came into our personal life into our business next we ask God to help us double our tithe which kind of crazy but we committed to that and we also committed to daring faith through that campaign in that program but as Pastor Rick just taught us when you make a promise to God it's wise to fill it as soon as possible so we decided to accelerate some of our giving and rather than face it out over the three years we just kept paying as soon as we could what's amazing is that once we decided to speed up that commitment God began to open some doors in some very unexpected ways for us and he began to make things financially possible that we absolutely had no idea would ever be possible one is my wife has a opportunity she has a desire and she started a business and that business was going to help fuel our giving but also minister to people that are victimized in in sex trafficking so God honored our faith and opened doors so fast and so wide during just that that now the business is growing she has partnerships locally and in India so it's international and it's just a been a blessing and when we began to accelerate and fulfilling that daring faith promise we also asked God to help us get out of debt was really important to us we felt it was important to him so we stop procrastinating we took steps to create a family spending plan and that's really made a huge difference but the bottom line is once we decided to speed up to accelerate that giving and that promise to God I think the guy began to kind of take us more seriously and we began to see real miracles and his real purpose and his faith and that you know it led to a couple of things just out of the blue one was the opportunity to sell some equity in a company that we had previously served and that gave us the opportunity to be with literally within just a couple hundred dollars of being completely debt-free and that was something that was just a huge it was a miracle to us because we didn't see any other way possible but for God so we're now ahead in our daring faith promise our goal is to give double of what we originally committed to we believe that God is blessing that and it's speeding up our financial commitments on the blessings actually hasn't they haven't just been financial in nature we actually double down in the service that we're giving to our friends into our church our small group which I'm a little biased here our small group is the best ever but I also began teaching with the kids small group KSG class 201 with some incredible leaders and some incredible kids and I a year ago at this time I would have never pictured myself in that classroom but it's been complete a complete joy so we're entering our lives and our family and our volunteering here in the ministry that we have at our church here and we've witnessed how God continues to bless us when we and to put him first and you know what he also blesses us when we keep our promises to him and we can't wait to see what he has in store for us next but in closing we want to encourage you to not forget the promises that you have made to God God is watching to see if we if you are going to mean business and keep those promises and put him first in your lives and trust him so that's what we've promised to do and jesus said that if we are faithful with the little things then God will trust us with even more and greater things and we found that to be true and we hope it's going to be true for you as you move fast in the areas that God has asked you and called you to move fast in so god bless you and thank you for letting us share today now another way that God wants another time when God wants you to move fast as this write it down when I have the opportunity to do good I should move fast when they have the opportunity to do good I should move fast by the way since this week is Thanksgiving you know we do a Thanksgiving offering every year we give thanks by giving thanks and giving go together we give our thanks by giving your all the Thanksgiving offerings this year are being counted toward daring faith because we're in this campaign just thought you would know that now when I have the opportunity to do good the bottom line is this every day God gives you little opportunities to show kindness to people around you and he's watching to see if you're going to be self-centered and oblivious to the people who around you or you're actually going to notice the people who need a word of encouragement I need a pat on the back maybe need a an errand or a loan or a babysitter or some practical means of help and God says this is a test and if you want to learn how to move in in the spirit of God you gotta learn how to move fast when you have an opportunity to do good here's what the Bible says proverbs 3:27 do not withhold good from those who deserve it while it is in your power to act you're not going to have that opportunity forever so just Nike just do it you know we there are people in your life that you've thought about oh I'd like to do that for my neighbors I'd like to do something kind for that person at work or I'd like to help that person down the street or I'd like and you you have all of the best intentions but you don't do anything about it and some of the things you thought about last year and now it's almost the end of this year and you still haven't done anything why because you didn't do it immediately now we make all kinds of excuses and one of the most famous ones is this when things settled down ever heard that one when things settled down then I'm going to do this thing I hate to tell you this it's not going to settle down your life is never going to settle down it's a myth it's never going to settle down if you're gonna do any good with your life you better do it now while you got the chance because you're not gonna get a better chance than right now look at this verse on the screen Ecclesiastes 11:4 if you wait for perfect conditions you will never get anything done anybody agree with that verse anyone give a testimony yeah if you wait for perfect conditions you never get anything done everything that's done in life that's good has to be done in imperfect conditions making that meal for a neighbor or doing something kind for somebody else we make all these excuses now the reason for doing it now the reason God says to do it fast is because you're not guaranteed tomorrow I'm not and you're not Jesus said it like this in John 9 all of us must quickly carry out the tasks circle the word quickly all of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the father who sent me he's talking about God God the Father we must quickly carry out the task God has some assigned tasks for you to do with your life and your life is ticking away and if you're not going to get it done now you may not get the opportunity to do it so whatever you're going to do with your life you better get on with it now he said we must carry out quickly the tasks assigned to us by the father because there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end question what kind act have you been intending to do you thought oh I'd really like to do this for that person but still haven't done it yet do it now then let me give you one more this one's the most important of all and when I should move fast number six when God offers me salvation I better move quickly on that offer it's a limited time offer when God offers me salvation some of you have been putting off and procrastinating stepping across the line you're a good person and you like Saddleback Church you come with your husband or your wife our friend or neighbor or you know a relative or boyfriend/girlfriend and you like Saddleback you like the church you like the music but you've never actually stepped across the line and said yes I'm in I'm trusting Jesus Christ as my savior what are you waiting on why in the world would I delay having my past forgiven getting a purpose for living and a home in heaven who else is going to give that to you where are you going to get it there is no other place where you're going to get that except through God himself so you've been putting off and you say well I just haven't decided to follow Jesus yes you have up to this point you have I used to have a poster in my office that it said this not to decide is to decide not to decide is to decide it's saying no I'm gonna go another day of my life disconnected with the Creator who loves me and made me for a purpose and I'm just not gonna be connected to him really that doesn't make a whole lot of sense here's what the Bible says second Corinthians God is ready to help you right now today today is the day of salvation if God offers you eternity in heaven you bought accept it now not next week not later not postponed to procrastinate but you need to move fast on that offer and I'm going to help you out I'll help you settle that one at the end of the day if you haven't done that now not everything in life though is to be done at high speed the Bible also has a lot of verses that talk about slowing down this is why I say timing is everything there's a rhythm to life the Bible says there's a time to plant and a time to harvest the Bible says there's a time to weep and a time to rejoice there's a time to go fast there's a time to go slow life is a series of rhythms and the successful people in life know when to do which at the right time and the Bible says look this on turn your outline over proverbs 14 29 it's smart to be what patient lunch circle bat I want you to be smart I want to be smart the Bible says it's smart to be patient so we've looked at some examples of when God says to move fast let me give you some examples and again this is not exhaustive just a few examples a when does God want me to move slowly alright here are few write these down number one I need to move slowly number one when I don't have the facts the Bible says when I don't have the facts I need to move move slowly I need to find out more about what I'm about to do before I do it now our culture this is so counterculture because our counter culture our culture worships impulsivity our culture values spontaneity to do anything to plan anything is considered uncool to plan anything to think it out is against there that's kind of geeky no no I just want to be a free spirit and I just want to be spontaneous and I I just want to be impulsive and so you make decisions when you don't have the facts and haven't planned at all how many times you've heard things like this people say we'll just go with your gut go with your gut you just ate a burrito what kind of information you're gonna get out of that beans and cheese go with your gut what does that mean go with your gut that's a terrible reason to base your life your gut is wrong it has indigestion half the time or here's another one you've heard this on a thousand talk shows you've heard it in movies and they make it sound so spiritual just you got to follow your heart you ever heard that just follow your follow your heart are you kidding me your heart lies to you all the time all the time you lie to yourself more than you lie to anybody else about half the time your heart gets it dead wrong the Bible says in Jeremiah 17 the heart is deceitful that means it has an amazing ability to con you and we tend to convince ourselves that things are bad when they're not really that bad and we can convince ourselves that they're good when they're not really that good and we lie to ourselves all the time you should not trust your heart because about half the time it's going to be dead wrong how's that working out for you anyway follow your heart one dead end after another broken hearts broken relationships following your heart is not you need something bigger than yourself you need an objective source of truth that's bigger than you we talked about this couple weeks ago that's outside of you that's a lot more reliable than simply well I got up this morning and felt like doing this really your feelings are often wrong and we know now today from virtual reality we make you feel anything really people advertisers know how to make you feel all kinds of things that you don't want to feel and doesn't mean it's right doesn't mean it's true no you need the facts you need the truth the Bible says this look at these verses proverbs 19 chapter 19 21 the Bible says zeal that's enthusiasm zeal without knowledge is not good you got to get the facts a person who moves too quickly may go the wrong way has that ever happened to you of course it has you ever been driving down the street and you didn't know where you're going and you were in a new town or a new area and you didn't know and he felt like somebody was pressuring you from behind so you turn right or turn left it wasn't the right decision you just felt pressured to do it and it wasn't it wasn't at all where you wanted to go because you hadn't stopped to get the facts and consider where you need to go zeal without knowledge is not good you know today America the economy is run on small businesses but most people don't realize that about 80 percent of all small businesses fail within the first five years why because they have zeal without knowledge they have a desire but they never talked anybody who's actually done it I could say I like to eat cookies I'm going to start Ricky's cookie store I know nothing about running a cookie store and before I ever start Ricky's cookie store I got to go talk to mrs. Fields and say what what were the pitfalls what didn't work it's dumb to start anything without talking to somebody who's already done it that's what the Bible says I should move slowly when they don't have the facts proverbs 18:13 to decide before knowing the facts is shameful and stupid well that's pretty clear all right number two second time I should move slowly when I'm hurt or angry this will save you a whole lot of counseling bills if you'll understand don't move fast when you're hurt or angry or you could add depressed to how many times have you made a bad decision when you were upset because your emotions kicked in your heart kicked in and your heart was trying to do stuff that wasn't logical or even rational or even beneficial I should move slowly the Bible says when I'm hurt or angry look at some of these verses James 1:19 everyone should be quick to listen slow to speak and slow to become angry to see the rhythm there you might circle quick slow and slow quick to listen slow to speak usually we get that one exact opposite usually we're quick to speak and slow to listen and that's why we have all the relational problems that we do because we're quick to speak and slow to listen God says no no you got it all backwards be quick to listen be slow to speak by the way if you do the first two the third ones automatic you'll be slow to anger now that's a rhythm let me show you a few verses proverbs 14 29 whoever is slow to anger has great understanding but he who is quick tempered makes foolish mistakes let me show you a couple more up here on the screen proverbs 15 verse 28 the godly thinks before speaking he said put your mind in gear before you put your mouth in gear well we don't always do that one and that gets us into trouble why we don't go slow we too were too quick this you know spouts out our opinion on the internet or somewhere else the godly thinks before speaking here's another one proverbs 15 18 losing your temper causes trouble but staying calm settles argument how do you stay calm go slow go slow sometimes you're to go fast in life but sometimes you're to go slow let me give you a third area I should move slowly when making a major decision oh this one could save you a lot of heartache and a lot of money too when making a major decision never make a major decision impulsively take some time to think it through to consider to pray to just slow down some of you are unmarried and you would like to be married might I'm going to give you my best marriage in two words here's there's ten years of counseling in two words though slow just don't get in a hurry what happens you go out you see somebody you get a quiver in your liver and you're ready to marry him next week are you kidding me and then you think you're going to spend the rest of your life with this person you didn't check them out no you should go through I tell people in each to counseling you should go through all four seasons with somebody before you Miriam winter spring summer or fall all you got to do is call go through all four seasons with you need to see your potential partner when they have diarrhea because they're going to get it in marriage all right you need to see when you see here's the problem with with dating dating is such an artificial phony experience I mean everybody acts their best looks their best dresses their best smells their best guy walks up to you you know in a bar so hey can I buy you a drink where else in the world do you offer a stranger to buy them something can you imagine you're in Sears you walk up hey could I buy you a toaster yeah care for a blender you know real it's so funny and so fake and it's not the real deal you got to see him when they're down when they're up and all the experiences of life you got to see them when they're when they're upset and they're you know and they're down and every experience because that's real life you see I just need to talk to our ladies here for just a minute because I don't want broken hearts you need to understand ladies that when a man decides he's going to get married he's a man on a mission and a man on a mission will do things he to get to woo a woman he would never do in real life like go to the Opera no man would ever go to the Opera voluntarily okay but but if he's trying to woo a woman he'll go to an opera he'll talk for three hours on the phone what man does that nobody no but he'll do it during the dating season okay and and bring flowers and all these kind of things and then once they're married the guy mentally in his mind he's got a checklist that he goes check married now I got to go to the second thing on the list which is I got to provide for her I got a family to take care of and I and so all of his attention moves from woo the woman done that now it's support our family support our marriage and all of his attention moves to the business and the woman feels like hey this is bait-and-switch what happened to the guy who talked to me for three hours on the phone he's working okay and so I'm just trying to put it out the way it really is that you just need to go slow you know I heard this week about a couple in our church that chose to wait 10 years to get married for the sake of their children from previous marriages that's unbelievably mature and an unselfish what they did is they dated each other while their little ones their babies were growing up they remained sexually pure they kept their vows to God and then once their kids but were grown and and they felt we're ready they they got finally got married the very unselfish mood and by the way they're on their honeymoon right now yeah they're on their honeymoon right now they chose to go slow when they could have gone fast but I guarantee you they save themselves a lot of problems that they might have had if they'd just rushed into something without even considering all the other players in the in the formula when you're making a major decision let me show you some Bible verses proverbs 21 29 wicked people bluff their way through life so do some presidential candidates okay okay but God's people think before they take a step you got to think you got to use the brain what I'm waiting for God's will God gave you his will when he gave you a brain and he says go slow think before you speak what major decision are you facing right now but you need to slow down on what major decision are you facing right now that you maybe it's retirement our new job or well I don't know what it is you just need to slow down on proverbs 426 says this ponder the path of your feet then all your ways will be sure circle the word ponder that's an old English word it just means to really seriously think about it means to carefully consider when he says ponder the path of your feet he's playing there is carefully consider the direction of your life and he says if you carefully consider the direction of your life then he says all your ways will be sure now what does it mean to carefully consider it means to ask yourself what do I need to do today in order to get where I want to be tomorrow most people never ask that question so they never get to where they want to be what do I need to do today the habits the practices the savings the skills the learning what do I need to do today to get where I want to be tomorrow a lot of people dream about tomorrow but they never ask what do I need to do today to get there that's what it means to ponder the path of your feet now you can't ponder fast you can only do it slow it means you got to take time you got to slow down you got to think about it now this applies to every heir of your life career moves marriage ministry family finances everything proverbs 22 verse 3 says this sensible people will see trouble coming because they're pondering the path of their feet they're looking at where they're headed sensible people will see the trouble coming and avoid it but an unthinking person will walk right into it and regret it later by the way do you know where we have the number one violation of that principle right there spending spending sensible people see trouble coming avoided unthinking bears walk right into it regret it later I I know I can't afford if I'm going to buy it because I really want it right now and and it's impulse buying it's buying things you don't need with money you don't have to impress people you don't even like and and that gets more people into trouble why are you in debt because of impulse buy because you did not plan it you did not ponder the path and yet didn't think about it and and so people get in debt and the Bible tells us this look at the screen proverbs 20:1 plan carefully and you will have plenty if you act too quickly see that's that you're going too fast if you act too quickly impulse buying I see it I want it then you will never have enough now plan carefully if you don't have plenty if you're living hand-to-mouth it's because you have not planned carefully you can live pretty much on any amount if you plan carefully I went through college and Seminary with Kay married on $800 a month because we planned carefully and and we made it work and I'm telling you this because we're coming up on the Christmas season and Satan's favorite tool is called catalogs to create interest and things you never knew how did you live without that until you finally saw it in the catalog so I need to slow down I need to slow down when I don't have the fax I need to slow down when I'm hurt or angry I need to move slowly when I'm making a major decision let me give you one more the Bible says I need to move slowly when I'm waiting for a seed I've planted to grow when I'm waiting for a seed that I've planted to grow now this is the law of the harvest I taught you a number of years back the nine laws of the harvest maybe I should teach that again because everything starts with a seed it starts with a seed of an idea an idea for a relationship an idea for a business idea for a hobby an idea for a work of art a building architecture everything starts as the seed of an idea but it doesn't go anywhere unless that seed is planted and it has to be planted in the ground once you plant it in the ground there is always a waiting time between planting and harvesting you sow in one season and you always reap in another you never reap in the same season you don't plant a tomato seed and now or go out and pick out a tomato and and you when you are when you have done some planting of seeds in your life for good then you just have to wait and you can't go back out there and you know dig the seed up every five minutes go are you growing no you just have to trust God you plant seeds now what am i Dharma you can plant seeds of kindness you can plant seeds of love you can plant seeds a financial seeds you can plant seeds of faith you can plant seeds of goodness you can plant seeds of integrity whatever you sow you will reap if you plant gossip you're going to reap gossip if you plant anger and a violent temper you know what you're going to reap anger and violent temper from other people you will sow what you reap and you will actually reap more than you so when you plant one seed of corn you don't get one seed of corn back you get a stalk with several ears with thousands of seeds of corn you always get back more than you plant positively or negative you can make the law of harvest work for you or against you but it doesn't happen fast it happens slowly and you have to reap in a different season some of you start planting a seeds financial seeds too daring faith you don't reap that harvest immediately you reap it over time you saw in one season you always harvest in another and you just keep waiting so what do you do while you're waiting on God and you're going slow and you're waiting God for some of these seeds you've been planning to harvest you just keep on sowing seed here's what the next verse says please yes tease 11:6 Oh first here please yes give me the first one Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 5 says there's a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven a time to plant and a time to harvest there is a time to scatter and there's a time to gather and in that in-between time what do you do you go slow and you keep planting here's what the next verse says keep on sewing your seed for you never know which ones will grow perhaps they all will it's kind of like getting your resume out you get it out the one place you've only planted one seed you get your resume out 200 places there's seeds have been planted in a hundred sites and you will reap according to what you sow now I realize that some of you have been waiting for some time for the harvest in your life you know I'm waiting I'm waiting for the harvest let me give you verse to encourage you the Bible says this in Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 3 God says at the time I have decided my words will come true you can trust what I say about the future it may take a long time but keep on waiting it will happen that's a good verse you might want to cut out and put on your refrigerator or put it on the visor in your car God says at the right time it will come true it may take a while but keep waiting it will happen it goes slow I want to end with a verse that's actually a prayer of Solomon from the Bible in the book of first kings and I just thought it was very appropriate as we face this week of Thanksgiving it says this I love it the message paraphrase first Kings 8:58 may God keep us centered and devoted to him following the life path he is cleared watching the signpost and walking at the pace and rhythm he laid down for our ancestors and that beautiful let me read it again may God keep us centered not sidelined centered not distracted centered and devoted to him following the life path he has cleared watching the signposts and he can't see the signpost if you don't do fast and walking not running at the pace and rhythms he laid down for our ancestors that's my prayer for you this Thanksgiving is your pasture now before we end I want to go back to that issue of some of you have not stepped across the line I don't want you to end this year not being in the family so let me give you let to last verses look here on the screen the Bible says God says I tell you that the right time is now and the day of salvation is now not next week not next year not in another month not when conditions are better now is the time to have your pass forgiven get a purpose for living and get a home in heaven where you going to get that deal and the Bible says this in acts 22:16 why wait any longer get up and be baptized trusting in him to save you I hope you'll do that this weekend we're baptizing in every campus and we will make special arrangements I want you to go into Thanksgiving as a family member of the family of God let's bow our heads pray this in your mind father help me to be sensitive to your timing help me when to go slow help me when to say no and help me win to move fast help me to walk in the spirit in both the steps and the stops of my life dear God when you tell me to do something I'm going to do it immediately I'm not going to wait anymore I'm not going to delay a procrastinator postponed when I read a command I'm going to do it help me to ask her offer forgiveness for the people in my life that you know I'm out of sorts with help me to not put that off anymore I don't want to go another day with guilt or bitterness or resentment stockpiled in my heart and when I feel tempted help me to run to not try to argue my way out of it to not flirt with temptation but to just remove myself from the situation if it means changing the channel are actually leaving the party or walking out of the room are moving away from a conversation at the office and Lord when I've made a promise to you help me to keep it as quickly as possible and help me to see the opportunities for kindness and for good you put in my life everyday help me not to withhold good from those who deserve it when it's in my power to act and to carry out quickly the tasks that you have for my life because I don't know how long I'm gonna live if you've never invited Christ in your life say dear Jesus Christ I accept your forgiveness right now I ask you to be my Savior because I know I can't possibly save myself I'll never be good enough to get into a perfect place so I need your salvation and I want to trust you and then lord help me to move slow when I don't have all the facts about a project or about a person and when I'm hurt and when I'm angry when I'm depressed help me to go slow and when I have a major decision to make or a major purchase to make help me to go slow and help me to wait in faith to see the harvest of the seeds that I'm planting every day and I humbly ask this in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Saddleback Church

Views: 55,557

Keywords: Learning (Quotation Subject), Slow, Rick Warren (Musical Artist), Fast, Toolbox For Life, Skills To Succeed, God, Jesus, Church, Life Skills

Id: T7kRG6x6MXo

Length: 58min 4sec (3484 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 23 2015