There’s nothing that pets my peeves more than being rushed.

Whether it’s that “well-meaning” acquaintance who’s “just trying to make conversation” when they grill you for not having kids yet, or feeling pressured by a salesperson to make an expensive impulse purchase, no one likes being rushed!

So, the question is, why do we keep allowing people to rush us?

As a Christian, I’ve decided to look into what the Bible says about rushing into things. As it turns out, God’s not a fan of rushing either, unless it’s to spread the Gospel. And if our Creator is against us making snap decisions without consulting Him, here’s why we shouldn’t let anyone lower than Him rush us.

Most People Who Rush Us Don’t Know Our Circumstances

Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.

-Proverbs 19:2, ESV

Going back to those “well-meaning” acquaintances… after being harassed with the baby question for close to four years now and having a couple people treat me horrendously just because I admitted my husband and I don’t have kids yet, I can attest that most people who ask this invasive question have no earthly idea what you and your spouse are going through!

Why do I know this? Because the people who have been rudest to me about not having kids yet (as if the ability to create life lies in the hands of humans rather than God, let’s be real) have insinuated my husband and I:

1) Put having kids on hold for no good reason, or

2) Were waiting “until we could afford it” to start trying to have kids.

At the time the latter was said, my husband and I were close to paying off our home (though I didn’t tell the accuser that). While we’re not rich by any means, we have financial discipline and I had saved up a lot of my income while I lived with my parents prior to getting married, with the intent to put the majority of my savings toward the mortgage. Granted, we wouldn’t have been able to pay the house off as quickly if we had kids earlier in our marriage, but we certainly were not waiting to have kids because of a perceived financial “burden”.

The other acquaintance, who I had only been around twice at that point, insinuated my husband and I had waited “so long” (2.5 years at the time) for “no good reason”, though, unknown to the accuser, my husband had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease a few months prior and was, at the time they made the comment, seeking answers for another medical issue that turned out to be a second autoimmune disease. As we were still adapting to these major life changes, we knew it was not the ideal time to start a family.

The moral of the story is, we shouldn’t let those “well-meaning” people who know next to nothing about our lives dictate our timelines! As the verse from Proverbs above says, desire without knowledge is not good.

I want kids of my own, desperately, but on God’s timeline. Like I said earlier, I can’t up and decide I’m going to get pregnant, conceive on the first try, have a healthy pregnancy from start to finish just because I willed it into existence. No one can! The gift of life is granted by God alone and it’s up to Him when that life is created. Before I even considered having a baby, before I came into existence for that matter, He had already planned out the course of not only my life, but yours as well! He’s the ultimate Author, and He knows best. Besides that, the verse ends with, “and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way“. Taking matters into our own hands and not consulting God’s guidance risks having to deal with consequences of our hasty actions that God did not intend for us to have if we had waited for His permission to proceed.

Sorry I’m harping about having kids so much; this has been the biggest area my husband and I have felt rushed in over the past few years and I have a lot of steam to release on the subject. 😛

God’s Plans Are Better Than Anything Anyone Else Can Imagine for Us

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.

-Proverbs 3:5-6, ESV

The Bible instructs us to not lean on our own understanding of our circumstances. Instead of acknowledging the opinions of others and allowing them to rush us into things we’re not ready for, or rushing ourselves to get ahead in life, we should instead look to God for further instructions, because unlike flawed humans, He is incapable of leading us astray.

Now, God’s ways may not always seem as glamorous or as instantly gratifying as what others are rushing us to do, but, as Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, God’s plans are for our good and not for evil. Waiting patiently on the Lord is also rewarded, as Lamentations 3:25 says, “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.”

So, instead of listening to what the world thinks we should do and chasing after it, or beating ourselves up because we’ve not achieved our dreams fast enough, let’s instead surrender our timelines to God and allow Him to guide us from here on out. He won’t rush you. Instead, He knows the perfect time to bring things into fruition (Isaiah 60:22).

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

What’s something you’ve felt pressured to rush into? Did you give in and rush into it on your own, or did you wait for God to guide you?

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀