WHY ARE WE IN SUCH A HURRY?

Life moves at a pace, doesn’t it? There is seemingly so much to do, many goals to achieve and an unending number of boxes to tick. It’s no wonder we try to move through life as quickly as we can. Twenty-four hours just doesn’t seem to be enough time to achieve all that we need to. We go to bed each night with our to-do lists growing longer, not shorter.

Does that sound familiar?

Many of us live in a perpetual state of hurry. It is the normal state of our lives and, even if we don’t care to admit it, it has been for as long as we can remember.

And so –

• We choose the shortest queue in the supermarket.
• We weave through traffic, trying to get one car further ahead.
• We check our phone while waiting for the kettle to boil.
• We try to answer an email while eating lunch.
• We feel like we’re wasting time when we’re only doing one thing.

Why wouldn’t we? We’ve got to save some time! We’ve got to get it all done!

But that begs another question – 

WHAT ARE WE HURRYING TOWARDS

If life is full of hurry then surely we have a very clear idea about why we’re hurrying. Some grand plan that once we reach the end of our list everything will be different. But we all know the end never comes. There is always more to accomplish and more to do. So why are we intent on embracing a life of hurry?

Perhaps we’re trying to get more done.

Perhaps we’re trying to get ahead.

Perhaps we’re afraid we’ll never have enough time.

Perhaps we’re simply following everyone else.

Perhaps we’ve bought into the idea that a productive life is a valuable life.

So, is busyness a form of distraction?

And if it is what are we distracting ourselves from?

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE STOP?

Perhaps the answer is uncomfortable.

Because if we stop, even for a moment, we might have to notice what is going on beneath all the busyness.

We might discover that we’re tired.

That we’re not actually enjoying the life we’re living.

That there are things we’ve been avoiding.

Questions we’ve been putting off.

Relationships that need attention.

Disappointments we haven’t allowed ourselves to feel.

Perhaps we keep ourselves busy because busyness gives us somewhere else to look.

As long as there is another email to answer, another job to finish, another notification to check, another thing to achieve, we don’t have to stop and ask whether the life we’re building is actually the life we want to live.

And perhaps that’s one of the reasons we’re so uncomfortable with doing nothing.

We have become so accustomed to filling every available space that an empty space can feel almost threatening.

A quiet car journey needs a podcast.

A walk needs a phone.

Waiting in a queue needs a screen.

Five minutes before the next appointment needs to be filled.

We don’t simply dislike wasting time.

Perhaps we’ve forgotten how to be present in it.

And yet, if we’re honest, what is it that we’re actually saving all this time for?

If I manage to get through the traffic five minutes quicker, what will I do with those five minutes?

If I get through the supermarket checkout two minutes earlier, where will those two minutes go?

If I manage to squeeze another task into my lunch break, what have I really gained?

Perhaps the problem isn’t that we don’t have enough time.

Perhaps the problem is that we have become convinced that time must always be used.

A DIFFERENT WAY OF LIVING

What if Jesus offers us an entirely different understanding of life?

Jesus doesn’t respond to our hurry by giving us another system for becoming more productive.

He doesn’t say, “Come to me and I’ll show you how to fit more into your day.”

He says,

“Come with me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.”

(Matthew 11:28 – The Message)

That’s a very different invitation.

Rest isn’t an interruption to the Christian life. Rest is part of the way Jesus forms us.

Rest was built into the very fabric of this world. On the seventh day God rested and blessed the seventh day and made it holy. For the Jewish people, the Sabbath is a day set apart for rest. No work, but space to delight in God, enjoy time with family and friends, and receive the gift of simply being. How does a day of rest sound to you? 

Perfect?

Beautiful? 

Terrifying? 

Perhaps the fact that a whole day of rest might sound terrifying tells us something about how deeply hurry has become embedded in us.

What would we do with ourselves?

No emails to answer.
No jobs to tick off.
No shopping to squeeze in.
No projects to make progress on.

Just space.

And perhaps that’s exactly why we need it.

God knows how quickly our lives can get out of balance and so He gave us the gift of rest to help us realign our lives, to re-fix our focus on Him, and in so doing, slow down our lives.

The world around us will constantly tell us that we’re not doing enough. That there is always something more to achieve, another goal to reach, another thing to improve. It tells us that our value is somehow connected to how much we accomplish.

PRODUCTIVITY OR FRUITFULNESS?

"Perhaps we've confused productivity with fruitfulness."

Productivity asks, How much can I get done?

Fruitfulness asks, What kind of person am I becoming?

The two aren’t necessarily the same.

I can accomplish a great deal and still become increasingly impatient, distracted, anxious and unavailable to the people around me.

I can fill my days and still find myself spiritually empty.

I can be incredibly productive and yet be moving further away from the person Jesus is calling me to become.

There is nothing wrong with being productive. The problem comes when productivity becomes the measure of our worth, or when our need to get things done determines the pace at which we live.

Perhaps the question isn’t simply, “What have I achieved today?”

Perhaps a better question is,

"What has been growing in me today?"

The Kingdom of God tells a different story.

You don’t have to prove your worth by how much you achieve.

You don’t have to fill every moment.

You don’t have to hurry through life trying to get somewhere else.

But perhaps that’s something we can only really discover when we stop.

SO HOW DO WE LIVE DIFFERENTLY?

What if our hurry is actually preventing us from becoming the people Jesus is inviting us to become?

That’s a challenging question, and one that deserves some time.

Is the way I am living working against the life Jesus has for me?

Am I so busy that I’m preventing myself from discovering that life?

Have I allowed myself to be consumed by the pull of the world, believing that my worth comes from what I achieve and not from the One who formed me?

If that is the case, how do I escape the hold this world has on me?

There is no simple three-step program, no fast-track solution and no secret system that will open a new way of life to us. What we have is better than all of that. 

We have access to the One who formed us, knows us completely and invites us to walk with Him. 

It is in His presence that we are transformed from the inside out.

It is in His presence that our thoughts are reshaped, our attitudes changed and our actions reformed. 

It is in Him that we find true freedom and release from those things that hold us captive. 

So perhaps the simple solution is not another solution at all.

Perhaps it is simply to come.

To bring our failures, our fears, our questions and our hopes to Him.

To stop.

To listen.

To rest.

And to allow Him to reshape our lives so that they begin to reflect His.

Perhaps we don’t need to hurry quite so much after all.