We’ll Take the Fast Pass, Please!

This last March, my Wallace Family and I went to Disney World in honor of the 10-year anniversary since Papa (my husband) celebrated his 60th birthday and Alexia celebrated her 6th birthday there. It was so special to be there to remember that special time we had together before. What made it even more special was that the kids have friends that work at the parks that gave us Fast Passes for some of the more popular rides.

A Fast Pass accelerates getting through the long lines by getting a special ticket ahead of time that allows you to go to the front of the line at an appointed time. It saved us so much time that we could enjoy more shows and attractions than just standing in line.

Wouldn't it be great if God would give us Fast Pass answers to our prayers? Wouldn’t it be fabulous to march straight through God’s pauses to move directly to His perfect plan? Of course, if that were the case, we’d be treating God like an amusement park ride where WE were the conductor of the ride, as well as the rider. Both you and I know that God seldom hands out passes so that we can avoid the wait and skip to the front of the line. He is so sovereign and so knows what's best for us that He meticulously plans "the wait". During the wait, we learn to trust Him more. During the wait, we learn patience and determination. During the wait, we tend to DEPEND on His perfect timing. During the wait, we come to realize that the initial prayer we prayed wasn’t at all what we really wanted. You know….that dream boat of a guy we wanted to look our way, but while we were WAITING in line, we saw him in a totally different light. He was actually a tug boat -- not a dream boat! Thanks, God, for the wait!!

A rush through the wait has the potential to stunt our spiritual growth and dull our senses to what God wants us to learn. James 1:2-4 “My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”

James is giving us wise advice. He’s saying “Avoid the Fast Pass through tests and challenges." The Fast Pass can feel like a breeze. But more times than not, a pause will actually work in our favor. Our faith will mature, and we will become devoted followers of God -- trusting in His perfect timing and plan for our lives. God is the Creator of time. We can trust His pauses to be purposeful and perfectly arranged. God will make the most of our pause, and we should, too.