Eliminate Hurry...

This past Sunday I visited my sister & brother-in-law's church (I believe it is the Third Reformed Church of Kalamazoo). During the message the pastor told a story about a phone conversation that John Ortberg (pastor & author) had with a spiritual mentor of his. Towards the end of the conversation, he asked his mentor what type of wisdom and/or insights he could give him to grow in His intimacy with the Lord and to keep his heart devoted to Him. The spiritual mentors response was, "you need to do whatever you can to eliminate hurry from your life." In fact, the mentor made sure he emphasized that statement, eliminate hurry, by repeating it to him before the conversation ended.

I've been thinking the last few days about what that statement means, or rather what it would look like to eliminate hurry from my life. I do think that part of that means learning to say no, prioritizing your time, and potentially even cutting some things out of your schedule. However, I think that "eliminating hurry" can still include full days. The key is that the activity and the service flow out of times of communion with the Father, and out of an abiding in Christ (John 15:5).

We see the perfect example of this type of lifestyle in our ultimate example, Christ. We have looked at two key passages as a staff recently that illustrate the priority that Jesus placed on times of communing with the Father in prayer, in the midst of much activity. The two key verses (and the surrounding passages/context) are Mark 1:35 and Luke 5:16.

Mark 1:35 = And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He departed and went out to a desolate place, and there He prayed.

Luke 5:16 = But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

If you look at the context of Mark 1, you will find that Jesus' early morning time of prayer (v. 35) followed a VERY full day of ministry. In the Luke 5 passage, just before verse sixteen it tells us that Jesus' fame was spreading and that His ministry was in high demand. Jesus modeled a perfect balance of being & doing, of worship & work, of still communion & showing compassion. His days seemed to be high-paced but He was not hurried. He was active, but He wasn't agitated. Why?...because He "often withdrew" and spent time with His Father.

Another place where you see this type of balance emphasized is in Luke 10. I greatly appreciate Warren Wiersbe's insights into this chapter. He states in his commentary on the book of Luke, "The three scenes in chapter 10 illustrate the threefold ministry of every Christian believer, and they answer the question, ‘What in the world does a Christian do?’ To begin with, we are the Lord’s ambassadors, sent to represent Him in this world (v. 1-24). We are also neighbors, looking for opportunities to show mercy in the name of Christ (v. 25-37). But at the heart of all our ministry is devotion to Christ, so we must be worshipers who take time to listen to His Word and commune with Him (v 38-42)." I love that - ambassadors, neighbors, worshipers.

I am praying for our staff this summer, that in the midst of full days we would be given the grace to eliminate hurry.



“Few things are as damaging to the Christian life as trying to work for Christ without taking time to commune with Christ (John 15:5).”
-Warren Wiersbe