Stride.
Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go, stand in front of me on the mountain. I, the Lord, will pass by you. “Then a very strong wind blew. The wind caused the mountains to break apart. It broke large rocks in front of the Lord. But that wind was not the Lord. After that wind, there was an earthquake. But that earthquake was not the Lord. After the earthquake, there was a fire. But that fire was not the Lord. After the fire, there was a quiet, gentle voice.” 1 Kings 19:11-12
I watched a sermon by Michael Todd a few years ago that changed the trajectory of my life.
The sermon series is called “Stride”. Essentially, in a world that adopts and caters to the hustle mentality, the main message counteracts the ideology of our fast-paced, by-my-own-strength, I-have-to-work-for-what-I-got, it-has-to-happen-sooner-than-later - sort of mantra that is central to striving.
To strive means to “make great efforts to achieve or obtain something or to struggle or fight vigorously.” Sound familiar?
We hear the word strive very frequently, maybe on a daily basis, and it’s always associated with the bettering of oneself, aspiring for excellence, and remaining in a constant cycle of growth and improvement. And I’m not saying that there aren’t places where this pace is relevant, but “strive” does not always take into account the way in which someone comes to achieving what they are seeking. It leaves out the quality of the journey which does indeed matter.
On the contrary is the lesser known and less popular word, “stride”, which means “to walk with long, decisive steps in a specified direction or to cross (an obstacle) with one long step.”
The principle from this message centers around how Jesus achieved His purpose, blessed others, and remained in relationship with God by simply walking from destination to destination. He never rushed or hurried to fulfill His destiny. Walking at a steady pace got Him to where He needed to be at the exact moment He needed to be there.
Being in God’s stride is the best place to be. I’ve come to realize this after many years of feeling left behind, out of sync, and too late when I’ve been striving. That is - striving for the degree, striving for the relationship, striving for the healing, striving for the image, striving for normalcy, striving to fit in, striving to be. It often feels like a whirlwind, and it’s almost too easy to be consumed.
On the opposite end, I understand that striding may be less attractive simply for how we make the mistake of assuming that the amount of time used while striding is not allocated or measured out. I mean, who wants to do anything slowly? It seems like a waste of time and effort; it requires too much consistent effort. But when we stride, the amount of time is not only measured, it is accurately and precisely measured out. Nothing that happens in stride happens haphazardly or by mistake. It happens purposely and safely. There’s grace associated with striding.
I find it a little humorous that almost all of the things we are anxious about while striving are the things we are protected from while striding. Even how we connect with God.
Therefore, I picked the anchor verse for this post because it illustrates the misconceptions we may have when we seek out God while in “striving mode”.
“The wind caused the mountains to break apart. It broke large rocks in front of the Lord. But that wind was not the Lord.”
We may not find God in the ruckus of how He performed previously… the way that is favorable to striding. It may not be grand the way we’d hoped, but it is all-encompassing all the same. So much of what we hope to gain is influenced by what we’ve gathered as spectators in other seasons while moving too quickly and without direction. God may have been loud and bold in that space to catch our attention, but He is not obligated to always remain this way.
“After that wind, there was an earthquake. But that earthquake was not the Lord. “
We may expect to find God in the place of drama, as if He must always be a part of our personal soap operas we’ve created. The narratives with a script that we follow are emphasized when we feel sorry for ourselves, especially when things don’t go according to our plan. But He doesn’t have to play along.
“After the earthquake, there was a fire. But that fire was not the Lord.”
Amazingly, we often always emphasize the disastrous parts of our lives, the “hits” we take on the road to achievement while striving for the prize, whatever the prize is, as if these hold God’s essence exclusively and we can only find Him if we’re broken in some way, but God doesn’t need to abide here either.
Finally, after all is said and done, and we are sick and tired of dealing with the results of striving, living and reliving its challenges and false victories, we find Him as He allows Himself to be revealed.
“After the fire, there was a quiet, gentle voice.”
Much to our surprise, and often to our dismay, He allows Himself to be seen in His true essence. And it is not the way we’d expect nor the way we’ve probably hoped. In His timing, and in His peace, we find Him – with Him to thank, and Him to thank only. Our striving couldn’t get us here. Being still and quiet enough allowed us to finally see Him and to hear what He has to say to us. If we were striving, we would have missed it.
Here’s what I’ve gathered from taking long decisive steps in a specified direction:
1. There’s peace.
I don’t know about you, but I feel so overwhelmed and tired when I am hustling hard for everything I need. I don’t care if it’s early in the morning when I am getting ready to walk out the door heading to work and I can’t find my keys and I realize I am forgetting something, or if it is 8 hours later when I get home and am already anticipating what needs to be done in the next day… or the next week… or the next year (tragic) - I absolutely feel my worse when I am in a rush. Like, didn’t that description just make you a bit anxious?
This is exactly how I feel when I am striving for something. I may move to one thing to the next, but I find my to-do list getting longer and longer with some important things, but often with less imperative things because I am anxious.
I’ve found so much more peace when I stride. There is a calmness present, and I can breathe and clearly think about what’s important and what is purposed to take care of itself at another time, if at all (Matthew 6:34).
2. There’s direction.
Now, the definition of stride is beautiful to me – “to walk with long, decisive steps in a specified direction”. You’ve felt it before… listening and subscribing to many voices that present themselves as logical, all for you to find out that they lead to nothing. This could be… what our friends value and what’s “worked” for them (so much there, but this is for another time lol). It could be… what our parents told us. It may be… what you think you know. It is often… what we think we deserve. All of these things, and so many more, lead us on a wild goose chase for the shadow or a version of what’s authentic and true.
In God’s stride, there is enough time to receive direction, guidance, and wisdom. The more we spend time with Him in a valuable way, the more and more we can see His plan unfolding. We receive insight that cannot be bought, learned, or earned.
3. There’s protection.
I’m going to keep it simple. Remaining in God’s stride has helped me and enabled me to remain safe. Safety is something we take for granted, and I don’t know why. Especially when we find ourselves in danger, and we just want that good night’s rest, or we want the issue to be resolved - safety is the thing that we yearn for.
Remaining in God’s stride allows us to avoid some of the pitfalls we experience when we don’t listen. Striding with God does not guarantee perfect circumstances, but even during those times, we have the abundance of the knowledge of His protection. He’s leading, so we’re safe. He’s responsible. We have a covering. When we are out of stride, we often must go through things the long and hard way (which ironically takes more time) because our actions have consequences. God doesn’t erase those although His presence can always be found.
4. There’s healing.
When we are in His stride, we often find what we’ve been searching for. This is for all of us in our seasons of thirst, where we need to be healed from mistreatment, misinformation, and misfortune. What’s so crazy about the benefit of healing while striding is we didn’t know we needed it, not to the depth that it is offered to us. This is the space where things are moving slowly enough that we’re able to show Him our scars and tell Him personally about all that has happened and how it affects us. We can share our joys and our fears with Him because we’re moving slow enough to take notice. We can “cross (an obstacle) with one long step”. This is also the space where if we’re still enough, He can point out some of the spots that need attention so that our lives can be improved, and so we can experience the abundance of being healed (Ephesians 3:20).
5. There’s relationship.
I believe that the greatest benefit of striding with God is the relationship we are in position to develop.
Have you ever tried speaking to someone who is walking ahead of you, or just quickly enough, that you can’t get a word in? You can’t capture their attention because you all are out of sync. One of the most detrimental things that can occur in a relationship, in my opinion, is being out of sync with the person that you are supposed to be in relationship with. Being out of sync yields discontentment, frustration, discouragement, and it hinders the ability to grow strongly. Being out of sync may also yield from growing and developing at different paces. For example, God may want to walk, but since we are dead set on running, we miss moving forward, together.
When we stride, we are moving at a pace that is optimal for growth. We can cultivate the love between us, the love that’s been there all along. He can show us the grace we need, and we can give Him the attention He deserves.
Above all else, everything listed is the fruit of being in relationship with God when we stride with Him.
I’d like to end with the story of Jairus, Jesus, and the unnamed woman with the issue of blood that we refer to so often. Don’t you find it ironic that the very pace that Jesus was walking allowed Him to perform not one, but two miracles, where there was Jairus who wanted Jesus to hurry to save His daughter, and the woman, who after years of suffering, tugged at Jesus’ garment and probably would have liked for him to stop completely to pay attention to her?
Jesus kept walking with slow decisive steps, keeping His stride, allowing Him to be at the right place at the right time - twice.