Moving With Haste But Not Hastily

For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. (Isaiah 52:12)

Have you ever been so excited about a goal or a vision you set for yourself and couldn’t wait to get to the end results? Have you ever just rushed into doing something you’ve always desired just for it to all fall apart and not go the way you imagined it would happen? I know I have! And the end result was definitely not what I expected. Well don’t be discouraged. It just means that it’s time to move differently! And this time, you move with God!

I remember a time when I was longing for a new place to move because I simply wanted more space and I was thinking God I should be so much further than where I am right now. I wanted to move into a house so badly because my two bedroom apartment was really nice but it was just too small for my family of four. 

So I remember one night asking God when I would get this house I had been praying for. I was so frustrated with my situation and wanted to make sure I was in a neighborhood with some quality schools for my two older kids. I remember crying in my closet on top of a pile of clothes pleading with God to place me in a home. I searched high and low and eventually, I had my eyes set on a house in a great neighborhood with an excellent school district. I was elated! I applied, got approved and was ready for move-in day!

I could do nothing but thank God for blessing me with this home. However, when I look in hindsight, I clearly wasn’t ready for this home. You know, sometimes God allows things to happen just so He can show you that His timing is everything. 

In the beginning it was a nice house, but there was so much to be done and there were also times when paying the rent was a struggle. Little things would need maintenance here and there, I ended up coming out of more money because of an unknown leak (which we eventually found almost a year and a half later) and I ended up paying more on the property because I had to add a fence for the dog we had. I’m not saying that we will never run into trouble but some trouble we can bring on ourselves.

I didn’t share this in the beginning but have you ever heard this little voice that tells you to not do something and just wait but you do it anyway because the opportunity presented itself? Yep, that was me. I was like Paul struggling with wanting to do right but doing the exact opposite (Romans 7:19). This definitely is not the first time this has happened. I heard my Spirit tell me that it wasn’t time to move. To just wait a little longer. The promise to my prayer was coming. And it would be a smooth transition because God’s hand would be upon it. However, I allowed my desires to overshadow what the Spirit was telling me and it was then when I learned once more to WAIT ON GOD and that every opportunity is not a God opportunity. 

Two years later, it was time for us to move again due to a different season in my life. And this time you can guess what I did. You guessed it! I waited upon the Lord. He hadn’t forgotten the prayer I prayed two years ago. This time, I wrote down a specific prayer, I placed it in my prayer closet, and I allowed God to move when He said it was time to move. Fast forward, He placed us in a house that was not only what I asked for, but beyond what I could ever ask, think or imagine. And it’s all because I waited on the Lord. 

In the verse of Isaiah 52:12, it tells us not to go out in haste. If we move before God tells us to move, then we forfeit the very thing that God has placed before us. We abort the seed God planted in us and alter the route for His plans for us because we moved too soon and moved without Him. 

There is nothing wrong with making plans and desiring the best things for your life. God will give us the desires of our hearts (Psalms 37:4) but we must first delight ourselves in the Lord! We must put the kingdom of God first and all other things shall be added unto you (Matt. 6:33). Our desires shouldn’t be for our own selfish needs but to glorify the Lord making other disciples. Remember. We are fishermen (fishers of men) (Mark 1:17; Math. 4:19). 

When we move with the desires of our hearts, we don’t move without the wisdom and knowledge from the Lord. Proverbs 19:2 says, “Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way”. Don’t do what I did the first time and move without the wisdom and knowledge and miss the way God intended you to go. We can make plans all day long but it is the Lord whose plans will spring forth (Proverbs 16:9). Don’t let your feet miss the way of the Lord’s steps. Isaiah 52:12 says that the Lord goes before us and that the God of Israel will be our rear guard meaning that He is an omnipresent God: He is there before we get to our destination, He is with us on the way to our destination, and He is guarding and watching behind us protecting us from the past. Listen and wait upon the Lord for He is speaking to you in more ways than one: through His Word, through people, through circumstances.

If you continue to move after seeking God and His kingdom, the desires of your heart will be the desires of God’s heart for you. When God tells you to move, then you need to move in obedience and don’t delay because delayed obedience is disobedience. 

Now it’s time to move with haste. No, I did not say move hastily. There’s a difference between the two. Moving hastily means moving without God’s blessing to do so. But moving with haste means moving in obedience to God’s calling on your life. 

Yes, I know this may scare you because this is moving you out of your comfort zone. Whatever God is calling you to do is going to require you to take a leap of faith. Whatever God is calling you to do, He has already made provisions for the vision. You just need to follow suit when He calls you. You may not even feel ready. Many, many times I did not feel ready at all. But what He has called you to do, only you can do. 

How do you know this is God calling you to do this? Because It’s bigger than you! It seems like it’s impossible. But let me remind you. He is the God of the impossible! When I applied for the new house the second time around, I didn’t think that it was possible for me to get approved because I didn’t know whether my resources were enough to get the approval. My resource were not enough but my Source was! When God’s hand is on it, He will provide!! And He did just that for me and my family. What God has for you no man will be able to take credit for what only God’s hand can do! What is going to happen with this calling and blessings of yours only God will be able to make happen! Believe me when I say I am a living witness! Now move with haste (obedience) and let God do His work!

Allow me to leave this prayer for you:

Dear Heavenly Father, I know that you are the God of the impossible. You have reassured me that You have gone before me for the very thing you have called me to do. You said that you would continue the good work you started in me. Somewhere along the way, I may have lost hope because life happened. But even with the things that happened to me throughout my life, you will not allow it to go to waste. You will use all things for the good of your glory. Lord, I surrender all my thoughts and my own selfish desires to You. I will walk in obedience and will follow Your steps. I trust in your timing and will not move hastily but will move with haste.  Lead me, guide me, and protect me from seen and unforeseen arrows by day and the pestilence at night. Thanks be unto You. In Your Heavenly Name I pray, Amen. 

Song of the Week:

Amen- Pastor Mike Jr.

(I do not own the rights to this song)