“If the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.” – Corrie Ten Boom.
Busyness and hurry are quiet cancers that can wreak havoc on our spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. Corrie ten Boom, the Dutch woman who saved so many Jews from the Nazi Holocaust, once said, “If the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.”
Hurry doesn’t just make you weary. Dallas Willard once called hurry the great enemy of spiritual life in our day, and he said, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” That is good advice when you consider the most significant aspects of human life cannot be rushed. Hearts can be stubbornly slow, as most people discover. Prayer is often a slow process. Spiritual growth is often slow. Love is slow, sometimes painfully so. But sometimes slow is God’s pace for our lives.
We’ve been made to believe that hurry is a virtue by the patterns and course of this world. Many of us have forgotten what slow is. We’re so used to driving, scrolling, and skimming that slow seems inefficient, impractical, and harmful. In our daily commute, we drive dozens of miles down 98 at 55 mph, driving a car that can go much faster, so why would we want to go slower? We get nervous when we miss a light, trying to spend those precious moments checking email, refreshing our Instagram feed, or listening to a podcast. It seems like a more productive use of our time.
But what if hurry was distracting, stunting, or even hurting us, especially in our spiritual life? To live — to know, enjoy, and follow Jesus — we need to learn to ruthlessly eliminate hurry and walk with God at God’s pace. As in every aspect of life, Jesus is the perfect and enduring example of how not to be hurried.
You cannot find a single example in the Bible where Jesus was in a hurry. He was decidedly unhurried and present in whatever He was doing, not allowing even death to change His pace or focus. In every situation and teaching, Jesus knew His reason for being where He was and the work He had to do. He knew the distance He had to travel, the timing, and the outcome of every day of His life, His death, and His resurrection. He never stayed longer in one place than needed to accomplish His purpose for being there, whether to feed five or four thousand, heal an individual, or raise one from the dead. He was always in the right place at the right time according to the will of the Father.
This world moves fast, but that doesn’t mean we have to. We must move slowly enough to ensure that our eyes and hearts can catch what’s around us rather than having it pass by in a blur. No one leaves this life saying, “I’m so glad I got everything done so efficiently.” Jesus’ example of patience and presence is a powerful message that we can learn from. If we are not in a hurry, we can better complete the work God has begun in us in His timing.
Discussion Questions:
- How does hurry damage our emotional and spiritual health?
- The solution to hurry sickness is not more time but rather to slow down and simplify what matters. Agree or disagree and why? What factors or limitations inhibit our ability to slow down?