There is something about autumn that welcomes in a breeze of calm to me. Maybe it’s simply watching the leaves slowly change colors. As much as I want to stay in the calm, life can cause me to brush it aside. My mind tends to want to rush to Christmas time and all the festivities. And then I can start thinking of how the cold days will sweep in behind the fallen leaves faster than I would like. As the seasons change before our eyes, and as we prepare to finish another year, (how does time go so fast?) I hope we’ll be able to pause from the rush of this earthly life and find the more in our everydays, to see the real truth.

What matters is that we hold onto what we have learned, embrace even the little things, and choose not to get lost in the rush.

While we can’t always avoid rushing, we can oftentimes redirect ourselves. We’ll get a late start that will quicken our pace every now and then. And there are things we rush to only because we are excitedly anticipating those beautiful times, like getting out the Christmas decorations or preparing for a party.

Martha wanted everything to be perfect for Jesus when He came to her home. Her rushing for preparation had her distracted by what really mattered. I, too, can rush to planning when I don’t pause and listen to Jesus.

When I get caught up in the rush of earthly life, I’m probably not at my best. But when I choose to rush to the truth of Jesus, it will calm the other rushes of a busy life here on earth.

There are also other things we more hastily rush to, like rushing to conclusions. This can be the most consequential for me. On those hard days when my emotions get the best of me, I can rush to conclusions, and conclusions that are probably not even true. I can overthink and have the entire story wrong. Jesus always helps me get back to the truth. God is the Creator of our story. And yet, do we ever rush to write the story?

Jesus invites us to follow Him, to follow light that always leads to truth. Rush to the real truth.

Just as I can relate to Martha, I wonder if I’ve ever been like Sarah. Sarah rushed a season of waiting. I, too, don’t always wait for God to unfold the story. I think of how her maidservant, Hagar, must have felt the weight and pressure of Sarah. Hagar was brave as she chose to embrace her Creator rather than Sarah’s despisement. Hagar rushed to the real truth.

She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

Genesis 16:13

There is such power in what Hagar says in this one Scripture verse. Hagar was a maidservant. She wasn’t popular or a woman who would probably draw a crowd. With our humanness, we may even see Hagar as a servant. Maybe Hagar just viewed herself as a servant and nothing more. What matters is how God viewed Hagar. Hagar’s Maker saw her as a beautiful daughter.

I want to be more like Hagar. To see beyond how I see myself and to see others the way God sees them, to see through the eyes of Christ.

May we rush past the planning and conclusions and rush toward what is true.