Man, is this week going to be a doozy. I have so much to do and I will never get it all done. Have you ever had a Monday morning like this or maybe every day is like this! There is a chorus in a song by country music group Alabama that goes like this:
I'm in a hurry to get things done
(Oh,) I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But, I'm in a hurry and don't know why
There are so many times in my life that I am like this, and let me tell you life’s no fun. I do and go and work and never seem to get done all that I need to. This reminds me of an article by Charles E. Hummel that I read when I was in high school and many times since. It is titled “Tyranny of the Urgent”. In it Hummel makes a statement, “We have left undone the things which we ought to have done; and done those things which we ought not to have done.” I don’t know about you but I am guilty of this often. I know we all do this and let me tell you it is dangerous. Hummel says,” your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important.”
The result of going, going, going and forgetting the important because of the urgent, is that we get run down and weary and still accomplish nothing. That is exactly what satan wants us to do. If we are weary and worn down, worried and depressed then we are easy prey for the enemy to pounce on and devour.
A.E.Whiteham in his writing ”The Discipline and Culture of the Spiritual Life” makes this statement about Jesus:
Here in this Man is adequate purpose….inward rest, that gives an air of leisure to his crowded life: above all there is in this Man a secret and a power of dealing with the waste-products of life, the waste of pain, disappointment, enmity, death turning to divine, uses the abuses of man, transforming arid places of pain to fruitfulness, trumpeting at last in death , and making a short life of thirty years or so, abruptly cut off to be a “finished” life.”
Hummel adds, “His (Jesus) life was never feverish: He had time for people.” He could spend hours talking to one person, such as the Samaritan woman at the well.
Jesus was a Man who also knew the importance of spending time with the creator. We are reminded of this so often in scripture. Time with the Creator of all is an important part of life, so I challenge you, to not let the urgency of other things keep you from being still and quiet before God.
But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him. Habakkuk 2:20
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Psalms 62:5-8
Psalms 62:5-8
There is a writing by an author unknown to me but it has impacted me over and over again throughout my life that I would like to leave you with.
As you got up this morning, I watched you, and hoped you would talk to me, even if it was just a few words, asking my opinion or thanking me for something good that happened in your life yesterday. But I noticed you were too busy, trying to find the right outfit to wear. When you ran around the house getting ready, I knew there would be a few minutes for you to stop and say hello, but you were too busy. At one point you had to wait fifteen minutes with nothing to do except sit in a chair. Then I saw you spring to your feet. I thought you wanted to talk to me but you ran to the phone and called a friend to get the latest gossip instead. I watched patiently all day long. With all your activities I guess you were too busy to say anything to me. I noticed that before lunch you looked around, maybe you felt embarrassed to talk to me, that is why you didn't bow your head. You glanced three or four tables over and you noticed some of your friends talking to me briefly before they ate, but you didn't. That's okay. There is still more time left, and I hope that you will still talk to me today. You went home and it seems as if you had lots of things to do. After a few of them were done, you turned on the TV. I don't know if you like TV or not, just about anything goes there and you spend a lot of time each day in front of it not thinking about anything, just enjoying the show. I waited patiently again as you watched the TV and ate your meal, but again you didn't talk to me. Bedtime I guess you felt too tired. After you said goodnight to your family you plopped into bed and fell asleep in no time. That's okay because you may not realize that I am always there for you. I've got patience, more than you will ever know. I even want to teach you how to be patient with others as well. I love you so much that I wait everyday for a nod, prayer or thought or a thankful part of your heart. It is hard to have a one sided conversation. Well, you are getting up once again. And once again I will wait, with nothing but love for you. Hoping that today you will give me some time. Have a nice day! Your friend and Father’ GOD.
Together let us take the example of Christ and tend to the important rather than the urgent.
Pastor Sean