Slowing Down: Discovering the Why Behind Our Hurry

Scriptures: Proverbs 19:2, Proverbs 21:5, Proverbs 29:20

There is a sickness in our culture today that is having a profound impact on the health of your soul and mine. It lives below the surface, often going unnoticed in everyday life. Although largely invisible to most, the poison that hurry sickness carries with it touches our work, relationships, and even how we view God. 

On some level, we have all been infected with the disease of hurry. Our minds race from thought to thought, consuming the flood of information coming at us. Our bodies feel tense as we struggle to keep up with our unrealistic to-do list. And our spirits suffer under the weight of it all, desperately in need of rest. 

Meyer Friedman paints a picture of hurry sickness this way, “above all, a continuous struggle and unremitting attempt to accomplish or achieve more and more things or participate in more and more events in less and less time, frequently in the face of opposition, real or imagined, from other persons.” 

The result of our constant chasing after more and more of everything is a life of hurry that “misses the way” (See Proverbs 19:2). Truth be told, most of the regrettable decisions I have made resulted from hurry running rampant in my life. Perhaps your life would tell a similar story. 

As Jesus apprentices, we know this is no way to live. So, is there a practice from the life of Jesus that can help us take back the ground we have lost to hurry? Enter the discipline of slowing. 

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun describes the discipline of slowing this way. “Slowing is a way we counter our culture’s mandate to tend to the bottom line, to move it or lose it, to constantly be on the go. It is a way that we honor our limits and the fact that God is found in the present moment. Through slowing we intentionally develop margins in our lives that leave us open to the present moment. Slowing ourselves down doesn’t happen automatically. We may need to incorporate some practices that make us conscious of our haste.” 

This reading plan will explore several practical ways to incorporate slowing into daily life. However, we miss the mark if we only focus on the practical without considering the root cause of the hurry in our lives. We must identify the why behind our hurried existence if we are to find true freedom in this area. 

For today, just begin to observe the moments of hurry in your life as you move throughout your week. Don’t try to fix them. Don’t try to diagnose what is happening. Just become aware of them. Notice how they affect your mind, body, and spirit.

Scriptures: Matthew 6:30-34, Psalms 111:5, Luke 12:22

In his book, Practicing the Way, John Mark Comer wrote, “Hurry is, arguably, the number one challenge you will face should you decide to take following Jesus seriously. Like an enemy, it won’t just stand in your way: it will actively fight against you.”

In order to fight back against our natural tendency towards hurry, we need to understand the why behind our hurried existence. Today, we will consider the first of four reasons we suffer from hurry sickness: Fear.

We are living in a cultural moment where #FOMO, or the fear of missing out, is having a devastating effect on our ability to be fully present in the moment. Present to God. Present to others. And even present to the condition of our own souls. Somewhere along the way, the enemy of our souls has fed us the lie that we can be all things to all people, in all places, across all of time. Afraid of missing out, we reason that if we can speed up the pace of how we move throughout our day, we can keep up with the flood of information coming at us.

Here is the hard truth you and I must be constantly reminded of. We are going to miss out. In the always-on, 24/7 modern digital world we currently live in, there is simply no way to avoid missing out. If we allow this truth to take root in our minds, we can begin to experience freedom from the fear that keeps us trapped in a lifestyle of hurry.

Together, we can find encouragement from The Message translation of Matthew 6:30-34, which says, “Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.”

If there is no way to avoid missing out on something, then perhaps we should ask ourselves, “What are we willing to miss out on?”

God is calling us to slow down. To live a life of intentionality that prioritizes what matters most. Time with God. Time with family. And time with the community of people God has strategically placed us near in our current season of life.

As you go, consider taking this practical step towards actively fighting back against the flow of hurry in your life. One way to cultivate the habit of slowing down is to unplug from the technology we allow into our lives regularly. If we aren’t careful, technology can become an open door to a constant flood of information about anything and everything happening in the world. But when we regularly choose to close the door, pausing the flow of information, the fear of missing out begins to recede, allowing us to prioritize what matters most in life.

Scriptures: Proverbs 11:2, Proverbs 18:12, Proverbs 29:23

Yesterday, we wrestled with how fear, specifically our fear of missing out, plays a significant role in the why behind the hurry sickness that is so prevalent in the cultural moment we find ourselves in. In order to make progress in this area, we need to accept that in our 24/7 modern digital world, we will miss out. There is simply no way of avoiding it. In order to slow down, we need to ask ourselves, “what are we willing to miss out on?”

Today, we will consider a second reason why we suffer from hurry sickness: Pride.

Again and again, the Book of Proverbs warns us of the destruction that comes if pride is allowed to grow in our hearts. Proverbs 11:2 reminds us, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace; but wisdom is with the humble.” And Proverbs 29:23 says “A person’s pride will bring humiliation, but one who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.”

Pride that leads to a life of hurry grows ever so subtly below the surface of our lives. However, there are warning signs that can help us to know when we have fallen into the trap of hurry. Here are two:

#1 – Focus on the destination, not the journey: Pride tells us that where we are going, the future moment we are in a hurry to get to, is in our control and that we will always arrive safely. However, the truth is that we are not promised life and breathe beyond the moment we are experiencing right now. God is far more interested in the person you and I are becoming than any future destination that our mind has become fixated on that we are sure will make us happy.

# 2 – Focus on the result, not the timing: Hurry causes us to run ahead of Jesus on the path of life. We get frustrated and impatient with what we perceive to be His slow pace. When pride gives birth to a life of hurry, our calendars begin to overflow with lots of doing for God, leaving little margin for being with God. The Lord is calling each of us out of a life of hurry and into an interactive, intimate relationship with Him.

Hurry doesn’t have to be the defining characteristic of our lives. We can take practical steps to allow God to slow us down so that we might walk with Him at His pace. Today, consider taking a step to identify and remove multi-tasking from your daily life. Why? Multi-tasking is the great enemy of our day, standing in direct opposition to any attempt we might make to be fully present in the moment. Present to God. Present to others. And even present to the condition of our own souls.

Scriptures: Psalms 27:14, Psalms 40:1, Psalms 46:10

Fear of missing out leads to a life of hurry as we attempt to keep up with the flood of information coming at us from an always-on modern digital world. Additionally, the sin of pride whispers the lie in our ears that God is moving too slowly, and therefore, a frenetic life marked by frequent multi-tasking becomes the norm. But there is another unsuspecting cause as to why we rush through the moments of our day even when we don’t have anywhere, in particular, to be: Progress.

In many ways, progress is the driving force of modern life. Without realizing it, we often expect that year after year, technology, medicine, science, and other pillars of society will continue to steadily advance, providing our generation with a greater quality of life than those who came before us. Now, many of these advancements are certainly welcome changes. However, with each passing year, the momentum of progress continues to snowball, demanding more and more from each of us to fulfill the promise of an ever-increasing output.

As the demands of progress continue to snowball, you and I are left with no choice but to increase our pace of life in order to keep up. It is this new normal of hurry that is having a crippling effect on our relationships. Feeling the heavy burden of progress, we often become increasingly frustrated when others fall short of our pursuit of efficiency and productivity.

Progress and hurry have stolen from us the necessary space and time to wait patiently on God and others. Even the smallest moments throughout our day now must be allocated towards accomplishment if we are to keep up with the demands of progress.

One way we can slow down the flow of progress in our lives is to look for small windows of time throughout our day (even just five to ten minutes can be significant) where we can be still and know that nothing has to be accomplished. These windows of time could be commuting to and from work or school. Or perhaps a meeting on our calendar that was initially scheduled for an hour wraps up early. However the opportunity arises, we shouldn’t be so quick to fill it with accomplishment. Instead, we would do well to lean into the words of Psalms 40:1, which says, “I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.”

Scriptures: Ephesians 2:10, Galatians 6:10, James 5:12

So far in this reading plan, we have considered how fear, pride, and progress, all in their own unique way, contribute to fanning the flame of hurry.

Today, we will examine one final trap with the potential to ignite the presence of hurry in our daily lives: Purpose.

Scripture repeatedly calls you and I, as followers of Jesus, to lean into our unique mission to advance His Kingdom here on earth. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us, “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” And Galatians 6:10 says, “So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”

In response to these verses, perhaps you have uttered your own version of the prayers below.

“Oh God, please show me your will for my life.”

“In this season of life, Lord Jesus, what is your plan for me? What steps are you asking me to take in order to advance your Kingdom here on earth?”

“Lord, I surrender to you. I will go where you lead. I will do what you have called me to do. Just please make your path forward clear to me.”

However, in our zeal and enthusiasm to live out our God-given purpose, we often fall into the trap of saying yes to opportunities God never intended for us to step into. Why? Because we mistakenly associate busyness for God’s Kingdom with obedience to our God-given purpose. And where busyness is found, hurry is not far off.

So what can we do to avoid the trap of overcommitment, which, more often than not, leads to hurry? Here are two checkpoints to consider before saying yes to any new opportunity.

First, look at your calendar and answer this question, “where will the time required to be faithful to this potential opportunity come from?” As you prayerfully consider this new opportunity, plug into your calendar the estimated time (making sure to overestimate) you think it will take to be fully present to the people and tasks connected to saying yes to this ask. And finally, take time to think through what your yes to this new endeavor will mean to the current commitments already on your calendar.

Second, in addition to the time required for any new opportunity, consider the physical, emotional, and spiritual stamina necessary to be faithful to your yes long after the initial rush of excitement has worn off. You and I are not robots. As we move throughout any given week, our energy levels ebb and flow. In order to remain fully present to our God-given purpose, we need to build in additional margin to recharge physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

With this in mind, carve out time over the next few days to take an inventory of your current commitments. For each commitment, prayerfully consider what it would look like moving forward to be fully present to the people and the tasks on your calendar.