“How long will we waver between two opinions?”

~ First Kings 18.21

Delivered on the steps of Montgomery, Alabama’s State Capitol, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered this speech after a successful march from Selma to Montgomery on March 25, 1965.  I was reminded of his words after hearing someone say, “We’ve come a long way but we’ve got so far to go.”

I wanted to ask, “How do you know?  Where is the finish line? What kind of race is it?  When and where and why do we say, “Go”?

Who has counted the steps, measured the distance?  How do you know how close we are?  What is the goal so that we will know that we have made it?  Where is the X that marks the spot of this treasured position?

And who can see whether there is another hole, trap  or a great leap ahead of us?   How do we know that we are not closer than we’ve ever been, that we take two steps back when we question our progress?

I was reminded of King’s speech because he reminds us of who holds tomorrow, of who holds the future, of who orders our steps (Psalm 37.23).  He reminds us that “no lie can live forever” because only Truth is eternal.  “How long?  Not long!”  For what is time in the presence of Eternity?

We must keep moving, walk faster, less we left behind.  We must love quicker as our unforgiveness and bitterness only slows us down.  We must forgive sooner as our habit of hatred does nothing more than waste time.  It is not productive.

“How long?  Not long! because:

Our God is marching on.  Glory!  Hallelujah!”

Additional Resource

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Our God is marching on,” (Montgomery, Alabama, March 25, 1965).