THE RUTHLESS ELIMINATION OF HURRY
BUSYNESS
BUSYNESS
HOW ARE YOU DOING?
“THE PROBLEM ISN’T WHEN YOU HAVE A LOT TO DO; ITS WHEN YOU HAVE TOO MUCH TO DO AND THE ONLY WAY TO KEEP THE QUOTA UP IS TO HURRY.” – JOHN MARK COMER
“YOU MUST RUTHLESSLY ELIMINATE HURRY FROM YOUR LIFE.” – DALLAS WILLARD
“THERE IS NOTHING ELSE. HURRY IS THE GREAT ENEMY OF SPIRITUAL LIFE IN OUR DAY. YOU MUST RUTHLESSLY ELIMINATE HURRY FROM YOUR LIFE.” – DALLAS WILLARD
HURRY IS NOT JUST A DIS-ORDERED SCHEDULE. HURRY IS A DIS-ORDERED HEART.
“IF THE DEVIL CAN’T MAKE YOU SIN, HE’LL MAKE YOU BUSY.” – CORRIE TEN BOOM
“HURRY IS NOT OF THE DEVIL; HURRY IS THE DEVIL.” – CARL JUNG
BOTH SIN AND BUSYNESS HAVE THE SAME EFFECT – THEY CUT OFF YOUR CONNECTION TO GOD, PEOPLE AND YOUR OWN SOUL
“Today a number of historical circumstances are blindly flowing together and accidentally conspiring to produce a climate within which it is difficult not just to think about God or to pray, but simply to have any interior depth whatsoever…We, for every kind of reason, good and bad, are distracting ourselves into spiritual oblivion. It is not that we have anything against God, depth and spirit, we would like these, it is just that we are habitually to preoccupied to have any of these show up on our radar screens. We are more busy than bad, more distracted than nonspiritual, and more interested in the movie theater, the sports stadium, and the shopping mall and the fantasy life they produce in us than we are in church. Pathological busyness, distraction, and restlessness are major roadblocks today within our spiritual lives.” – Ronald Rolheiser
“For many of us the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it. We will just skim our lives instead of actually living them.” John Ortberg
“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Ephesians 3:16-19 NLT
LOVE
“You must love the lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:36-39 NLT
HURRY AND LOVE ARE INCOMPATIBLE
LOVE
“HURRY AND LOVE ARE OIL AND WATER: THEY SIMPLY DO NOT MIX.” – JOHN MARK COMER
“Love is patient and kind.” 1 Corinthians 13:4 NLT
“God walks “slowly” because He is love. If he is not love He would have gone much faster. Love has its speed. It is an inner speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed. It is “slow” yet it is lord over all other speeds since it is the speed of love.” – Kosuke Koyama
“But in the upside-down Kingdom, our value system is turned on it’s head: hurry is of the devil; slow is of Jesus, because Jesus is what love looks like in flesh and blood” – John Mark Comer
“As Jesus was saying this, the leader of a synagogue came and knelt before him. “My daughter has just died,” he said, “but you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her.” So Jesus and his disciples got up and went with him.” Matthew 9:18-19 NLT
“Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up b Jesus turned around, and when he saw her he said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed at that moment.” Matthew 9:20-22 NLT
JESUS’ UNHURRY ALLOWED FOR AN INTERRUPTION, WHICH LED TO AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOVE, WHICH ENDED IN A MIRACLE
HURRY SICKNESS
- MOVING FROM ONE CHECK OUT LINE TO ANOTHER BECAUSE IT LOOKS SHORTER/FASTER
- COUNTING THE CARS IN FRONT OF YOU AND EITHER GETTING IN THE LANE THAT HAS THE LEAST OR IS GOING THE FASTEST
- MULTI-TASKING TO THE POINT OF FORGETTING ONE OF THE ACTUAL TASKS
- IRRITABILITY
- HYPERSENSATIVITY
- RESTLESSNESS
- WORKAHOLISM (OR NONSTOP ACTIVITY)
- EMOTIONAL NUMBNESS
- OUT OF ORDER PRIORITIES
- LACK OF CARE FOR YOUR BODY
- ESCAPIST BEHAVIORS
- SLIPPAGE OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES
- ISOLATION
A HURRIED LIFE OF SPEED IS THE NEW NORMAL IN OUR SOCIETY, AND IT’S TOXIC
“The thief’s (devil) purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.” John 10:10 NLT
TAKE HOME:
SLOW DOWN
TAKE TIME TO PAUSE
WHAT YOU GIVE YOUR ATTENTION TO CONSISTENTLY IS THE PERSON YOU BECOME