The animal kingdom is filled with so many animals that man has not discovered all of them yet. If you watch the animal world and national geographic stations, you will come to appreciate God for creating them and Adam for naming them all. In the animal kingdom, there are both the big and small, fat and thin, and fat and slow animals. All the animals have their unique features, qualities, their strengths and weaknesses.
God does not make a mistake and he didn’t make a mistake by making the slow, fast, big, small, large and tiny animals. As slow as an animal is, it is very important and useful on earth and as fast as an animal is, it is also useful on earth. This brings me to the Ark built by Noah. God told him to build an ark and that when he completed it that he should bring in the animals into it in twos, male and female.
Genesis 6:16-19 says, “16 you shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 And behold, I myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which
is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.
If the animals were not important, God would have ignored them and allowed them to perish in the flood. But he sent them in twos to Noah so that they could be preserved. Amongst the animals were the Lion and Tiger, Elephants, Hippopotamus, Giraffe, monkeys, donkeys, snakes, crocodile, Tortoise, snails and sloths.
The fastest land animal is the cheetah which has a recorded speed of 109.4–120.7 km/h (68.0–75.0 mph). The peregrine falcon is the fastest bird and the fastest member of the animal kingdom with a speed of 389 km/h (242 mph). While the Sloth is the slowest animal and mammal which averages a distance of only 0.15 miles per hour and it is so slow that algae grow on them.
The name sloth is actually a synonym of slow motion to show how slow a sloth is. Other slow animals are the snails, the sea-horse, tortoise and so on. Guess what, they all enter the ark that was built by Noah and God waited for all the animals in twos (both male and female) to enter the Ark before he shut it. 
Genesis 7: 13-16 says, “13 On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark— 14 they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort.
15 And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. 16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in”.
Although the lion and cheetah might have gotten into the ark first and long before the sloth (male and female and other slow moving animals) entered it, they all still got in in time and there was room for all of them both the elephants, giraffes, birds, crocodile, snakes and the shrew, the smallest animal in the world. If it was in athletes’ games, the cheetah would have won the race and if God had said that the first fifty animals to get in would be the only animals that would be allowed to get in and preserved, the sloth would not have entered. But God actually waited until the fast and the slow entered before he shut the door. This is good news to all mankind whether you are fat, thin, short, tall, thin, and fast or slow because God is waiting for you patiently and there is enough room for you in him. However, do not take his patience for granted.
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:11 that, “ I returned and saw under the sun that—the race
is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all”.
Though you might not be where you think you are supposed to be and you may also think that others have gone ahead of you, you should not give up because it does not matter how slow you go as long as you do not stop. It is said that a room is not built in a day, so you should not expect to reach your goal and build a house in a day. Just like the cheetah, many are very fast in the things they do. They are goal getters and they pursue every idea, visions and things fall in place quickly for them as they move up on the ladder of life. Some of them put some things in place and in motion that enhance their speed, while others are just favoured in life because everything they do works out fine.
However, if things are not working according to your plan and desire, you should not stop. You can sit down and learn from those who are running fast and also look at the places you have made mistakes in life. Try as much as possible to correct them by not making the same mistakes again. You should also realize that being slow is not synonymous with failure and being fast in life is not synonymous with success. But I think that it is good to be fast and steady while running a race.
In the bible, Ahimaaz got to David before the Cushite in 2 Samuel 18:19-32, He did not have a message, hence David turned him aside. The Cushite had the message and left before Ahimaaz but he who did not have the message left later and got to David before the Cushite. This is very instructive because someone may get to the goal before you though you have the real vision, talent, ideas and advantage. This does not mean that your vision, ideas and knowlegde are useless. Your process in life is different from that of someone else and what you carry on your inside is different from what someone else is carrying. So, try as much as possible to run the race accordingly because we all will get to the finish line. Your message, vision and purpose are unique to you and you are not a failure because others have achieved things in life before you. There is no failure in God and being slow and steady does not make you a failure just that it will take you more time, pain, endurance and energy. The most important thing is that you get to the finish line and that you fulfill God’s plan and purpose for your life.
The Sloth was perfectly created by God and so were you. It being slow was not a mistake by God neither was a Cheetah being fast was also a mistake. There was a reason God made one fast and the other slow. Also, if you are moving on the ladder of life in a fast way, you should not think that you are better off than others because it does not make you so special. The reason being that God made both the cheetah and the sloth and both of them have a purpose like all the things God created. David succeeded before his siblings but it was through Judah our lord Jesus Christ came. So, do not get it twisted that your pace in life shows that you are more successful than others or you are a failure. The truth is that the fast does not always win and the slow does not always lose. Wilson Ileogben
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