Fact Check: Mark Wahlberg Tweeted Sometimes God Slows You Down

Claim: Mark Wahlberg tweeted: "Sometimes God slows you down so that the evil ahead of you will pass before you get there. Your delay could mean your protection."

Since late in 2021, a meme on Facebook featuring the following quote, which purports to be a tweet from Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg: God may at times slow you down so that the evil in front of you will pass before you reach your destination. Your protection may depend on your delay. It appeared that the meme specifically displayed a Twitter-like verification badge.

We were unable to locate any evidence that Wahlberg ever said, posted, or tweeted these words, despite the possibility that he would concur with the message conveyed by the quote.

The meme with Wahlberg may have originated in a Facebook post on Dec. 7, 2021. In less than a month, it received more than 77,000 shares. The post was captioned with: "Read That Again and Again and Again!!!!!"

Wahlberg never tweeted the words, "sometimes God slows you down."

The religious message conveyed by the quote has probably been communicated for a long time using a variety of words, possibly even for centuries.

A search of Google Books reveals that the exact phrase "sometimes God slows" appeared for the first time in the year 2000. George Otis, the author, wrote: God sometimes slows down our pace so that He can free us from a flawed mindset or worldview." In his book titled "God's Trademarks: How to Tell if a Message, Ministry, or Strategy Really Comes From God

Author Wayne Schmidt wrote in 2003: God slows us down sometimes to show us that His plans can only be carried out with His power. If the commander of His heavenly army arrives with a sword in hand, the battle will be won. His book "Lead On:" contained the quote. How leaders get churches moving and why they stand still."

In her book "In the Gym with God," which was published in 2004, Elisa G. Difalco included a similar quote. It said, " God sometimes slows us down to fix problems we don't know about.

The first social media post that included the two sentences from the Wahlberg meme with the words "sometimes God slows you down" wasn't found until May 26, 2019, when we were able to find it.

On the other hand, on September 20, 2019, the initial tweet on Twitter utilized similar language.

Quote memes that contain sentences that celebrities and historical figures never said or posted are common.

For instance, we have previously written about deceptive quote memes about Anne Frank, Clint Eastwood, and Harrison Ford. These memes frequently feature famous people smiling or looking serious, as if they were contemplating the quote when the picture was taken.

In conclusion, Wahlberg did not post a tweet stating that "sometimes God slows you down." It's possible that the celebrity's name was included in the message in an effort to get more likes, comments, and shares.