The Wisdom of Not Being Hasty

In J.R.R. Tolkien's The Two Towers, the hobbits Merry and Pippin encounter the Ents — ancient, tree-like shepherds of the forest. Their leader, Treebeard, has a favorite saying: "Don't be hasty." When the hobbits beg the Ents to join the war against Saruman, Treebeard insists on calling an Entmoot — a gathering where every Ent can speak. The meeting stretches on for three days. Merry grows exasperated. The urgency feels unbearable. How can they just stand there deliberating while the world burns?

But here is what patience produced: when the Ents finally decided to act, they marched on Isengard with a force so overwhelming that Saruman's fortress was torn apart in a single afternoon. Their slow deliberation was not weakness — it was the gathering of an unstoppable strength.

We live in a culture that mistakes speed for wisdom. We want the quick fix, the instant answer, the overnight transformation. But the Psalmist writes, "Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord" (Psalm 27:14). That waiting is not passive. Like the Ents at their Entmoot, the Almighty is doing something in the silence — aligning hearts, deepening roots, gathering a power we cannot yet see.

The next time you feel God is taking too long, remember Treebeard. Sometimes the slowest deliberation leads to the most decisive victory.