Our culture is not conducive to finding God’s rhythm (mometum) in our lives.

We live in a frenzied, multi-tasking society geared towards achievement and productivity. In that culture, relationships become superficial or fleeting at best. We lose our connectedness with people, faith, and our spirituality. We have constant media saturation giving us mixed and changing messages. We’re surrounded by an unstable society and a culture of no absolutes. People and their lives are fragmented. People are disoriented. They’re overly committed. They’re exhausted. There are too many ideas for people to handle. As a result, they have the inability to discern what is a good idea and what is a God idea. Focus and purpose are elusive.

Which brings us to a huge question with momentum: Where do I start? The first principle in developing God’s momentum in our lives involves clarity. We find clarity when we slow down for a greater run at the journey.

When we find God’s pace we can actually go faster (where and when it matters), further, and have greater impact by first slowing down.

Racecar drivers decelerate early in a turn in order to negotiate a turn with more ‘grip’, giving them greater acceleration off of a turn. It’s here that the car settles into the racing ‘groove’ and handles better for a longer run. But it starts with decelerating at the right place on the track as opposed to just running wide open around the oval. Many of us feel as if we are sliding all over the track. Life seems to have no steady grip. We don’t get momentum in areas very often because we haven’t properly decelerated to negotiate the journey.

We can actually go faster by slowing down. Days of Thunder is the story of a young, cocky kid from California who comes to Charlotte NC to join the NASCAR circuit. He has a ton of talent but doesn’t understand anything about a stock car. Cole Trickle is the driver (played by Tom Cruise) and Harry Hyde is his crew chief (played by Robert Duvall). Harry Hyde has the complicated task of taking this arrogant young racecar driver and teaching him how to win races. He already knows how to go fast, but he doesn’t understand how to slow down so that he can be faster over the course of a long race.

In the scene, the wise crew chief makes a deal with the younger driver to run 50 laps the way he is used to running, and then 50 laps the way that his crew chief wants him to drive. The result of running his own way ends with the tires all tore up and shredded with nothing left to race on. The result of running his crew chief’s way (slowing down to go faster) ends up not only preserving the life and grip of the tire rubber, but also causes him to be six seconds faster over the course of 50 laps.

I believe this is a great picture of what it means to run the race the world’s way vs. running the race God’s way. The world uses us up, saps our creative energies, burn us out, and then hangs us out to dry.

Corrie ten Boom once said, “Beware of the barrenness of a busy life.” I believe that it was originally a quote from Socrates, but at any rate, I believe there is much truth to it.

Now, more than ever, we need clarity in our lives. Centered on the imagery in Hebrews 12:1-3, I suggest four ways to find that clarity. It involves lessening your load, bringing the right things into focus, learning the rhythm of Christ, and practicing the discipline of waiting on God.

When we find clarity in our lives, we don’t just end up frantically busy, we begin to see lasting and sustainable momentum lived out in our lives. We go faster where it matters, we go further, and we have greater impact. But it starts with slowing down to go faster.