“Hurry is the enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”
Dallas Willard
I’ve been in a hurry most of my life, including my early arrival at birth. Slowing down my pace and not rushing through my quiet time just to get to the next thing on my to-do list, takes an active choice on my part. My impatient character requires intentional effort to choose the opposite. As I diagnose my “hurry sickness,” I realize I’ve hurried because of my pursuit of productivity. I wanted to accomplish things in order to feel worth and value. But at what price has my hurrying cost me? How much have I missed by zipping past what’s important, like relationships?
Hurry is the enemy of revelation. Rarely does deep, heart understanding come when I’m rushing around. Revelation comes as I sit still and ponder and listen to the Father’s voice. And that takes time and stillness, not busyness. Last year the Lord instructed me to no longer have the goal of reading through the Bible in a year. Instead, He said to take it slow and to chew on bite-sized pieces of His Word. God instructed me to stop when He highlights a word, a phrase, or a scripture verse and to savor it. Instead of going full steam ahead through the chapter, I’m to pause at the stop sign He’s placed before me, because there’s something He wants me to see and understand. I’m learning how to stop and “smell” His revelation. This bread of life I’m savoring gives me depth I’ll draw upon in the years to come, which I hope will give nourishment to both me and others.
A literary agent at a Christian writer’s conference encouraged me to let my manuscript “breathe.” I think that’s a good motto to follow: let it breathe. Let your Bible reading breathe. Allow your time with family and friends to breathe. I’m trying to no longer have the goal of cramming as much as I can into a day. Instead, I’m inhaling and exhaling, and savoring the life around me.
What if the real “work,” what is most significant in life, is found in what we deem as unproductive? What if it’s in the times we slow down to savor and we pause and ponder, that we not only discover who God is, but who we are as well? While on a mission trip to Kenya, we learned the Swahili phrase: “Haraka, Haraka, Hakuna Baraka.” It means, “Hurry, hurry, no blessing.” Do yourself a favor; slow down and savor life.
“In our rushing, bulls in china shops, we break our own lives.”
Ann Voskamp
Relevant Reflections:
1. What symptoms of “hurry sickness” are you experiencing?
2. List steps you can take to intentionally slow down and let your life breathe.