The journey cannot be rushed
The unhurried journey
Teresa was patient with souls in a way our culture finds almost incomprehensible. The journey through the castle, she taught, cannot be hurried. There is no technique to force one's way into the deeper rooms, no shortcut to maturity, no way to microwave what God grows slowly. Each stage has its own work and its own waiting, and the soul that tries to rush ahead only stumbles.
This is hard for us, who want everything fast and measure progress by speed. We approach the spiritual life the way we approach everything else — looking for the efficient method, the accelerated course, the quickest route to the destination. But the deep transformation of a soul is more like the growth of a tree than the assembly of a product, and trees cannot be hurried.
The psalmist captures the posture the journey requires: I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. Waiting is not passivity; it is active, hopeful trust that God is working at the right pace even when nothing seems to be moving. The Lord is good, Lamentations says, to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. The inner journey unfolds in God's time, not ours — and learning to wait for him is itself part of the journey.
“I wait for the LORD. My soul waits. I hope in his word.”
— The psalmist — Psalm 130:5 (WEB)
Let the inner journey unfold in God's time rather than yours — waiting on him as active, hopeful trust, not rushing what he grows slowly.
“The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.”
Impatience handles the soul the way it handles everything else it hurries — a process to streamline, a finish line to reach by the fastest road — and so we strain against a growth that will not be sped up. The interior work is to accept that a soul ripens like fruit on a tree and not a thing off a line, and to let the waiting become what it actually is: not dead time but the trusting, active stance the whole journey is made of.
This week, resist the urge to rush your spiritual growth: stop measuring progress by speed, release the pressure to reach the next stage, and practice active waiting — staying faithful in the present room God has you in, trusting his pace.
The enemy feeds on your hurry, pushing you to force the next stage and then handing you discouragement when depth will not come on schedule, until you either stumble ahead or give up. But hopeful waiting on God's pace is itself part of the transformation — a work no haste can rush past and no impatience can sabotage.
We are a people of shortcuts, accustomed to speeding up everything, and we bring that impatience to the soul, looking for the accelerated path to spiritual depth and growing frustrated when transformation refuses to hurry. Teresa's counsel cuts against the whole instinct: the journey cannot be rushed, and the attempt to force it only does harm.
The growth of a soul is organic, not mechanical — more like a tree than a product — and it unfolds in God's time, through stages that cannot be skipped. Waiting on him is not wasted time or failure; it is the very posture the deep journey requires, an active and hopeful trust that he is working even in the apparent stillness. Consider where your impatience for spiritual progress is actually getting in God's way, and what it would mean to wait for him, trusting that he is good to those who do.
- Do I bring a shortcut mentality to the growth of my soul?
- Is my impatience for progress actually getting in God's way?
- What would it mean to wait for the Lord, trusting his pace?
Lord, I want spiritual depth fast and grow frustrated when you will not hurry. Teach me that the journey cannot be rushed. Make my waiting active and hopeful, trusting you to grow me in your time, for you are good to the soul that waits for you. Amen.