Ever feel like you are treading water as fast as you can?!? Your hands and feet splash against life’s current. You feel the flood around your ears. All the while you’re repeating to yourself, “Don’t drown … don’t drown … don’t drown … ”
There are seasons in life when the overwhelm of circumstances and the extreme busyness created by them bring me to the point of wanting to crawl back into bed and hide under the covers until the storm ends. Of course, I know that is completely unrealistic, but sometimes I want to do exactly that. These times, of course, are the exception. Or, are they?
We live in a whirl of hurry! Our culture is obsessed with filling our calendars from moment to moment. No gaps. No spaces. No margins!
For real time proof of this, take a peek at your own calendar. With your job your calendar is probably filled with the tasks of each day, client meetings, staff meetings, etc. Add in personal appointments, and if you have a family, you probably have several things each week calendared in for your family’s activities. Included in your calendar is church attendance and associated activities, as well as time with extended family, gatherings with friends, and … While we are at it, we cannot forget activities planned by others on our behalf that, as we consider them, our guilt meter begins to climb and we attempt to splice in an acceptable amount of time to participate, and … You see my point. It is tiring just thinking about it.
As we consider our calendars we must ask ourselves: Have we scheduled laid back family time? What about just me and my spouse? Reading my Bible? Prayer? Contemplation? Solitude?
When our calendars have entries on every line, we find ourselves constantly hurrying to get to the next event. Even when the events are things we enjoy and with people we love, we find ourselves exhausted or harried upon arrival. Why? Because we had to run from the last thing to get to this thing and are already thinking of when we need to leave to get to the next thing.
The vortex of hurriedness sucks us in & tosses us about without mercy. If you have ever been caught in that funnel, you will understand this truth: Hurry is a time siphon, life drainer, a sieve of peace. There is no substitute for deliberate action. Slow, deliberate, decisive, purposeful action brings peace and saves more time than rushing ever will.
Hurry is a time siphon, a life drainer, a sieve of peace. Click To TweetIn our flurry of hurry we tend to do things without tending to details. We might omit a vital note in a report, neglect to make a phone call that may help “seal the deal” we are working, or forget to attend an important luncheon or event. Hurriedness itself becomes a distraction and can create awkwardness in our interactions because our conversations become choppy as we glance away repeatedly to check our watch or survey the door to see if our next appointment has arrived.
In my family, with young children we had a full schedule yet did not live in a hurry. Then came middle school when life seemed to merge from the meandering cowpath onto the raceway!
During those days of early motherhood, a friend was relaying a memorable incident of hurriedness in her family. They were scurrying out the door to attend an event when her younger daughter, about four years of age, cried out with agonized disdain, “Mommy, are we in a hurry, AGAIN?!?” My friend’s heart sank as she had to answer in the affirmative, “Yes, we are.”
The Bible teaches us to live thoughtfully and with intention. We are taught in Proverbs 19:2, “The one who acts hastily makes poor choices.” Some versions say when we hurry our steps we err, we make mistakes, we sin. Hurriedness leads us into error.
As the seasons transition from winter to spring and frigid temperatures are exchanged for warmth and new life, it seems a beautiful opportunity for us to leave behind the season of Hurry–never to revisit.
There is no substitute for deliberate action. Slow, deliberate, decisive, purposeful action brings peace and saves more time than rushing ever will. Click To TweetMay we slow ourselves, seek the wisdom of the Lord and be intentional in all our actions and activities.
