journey onWord with us

It’s probably been at least ten years since I have spoken to Matt.  Over the years, our paths crossed due to the efforts of a mutual friend.  Matt was one of those people you always looked up to; he was successful in business, and just seemed to have things together.  Actually, the last time I remember speaking to him, he was managing over one billion dollars for his clients!  But the fact that he managed lots of money and was successful, has nothing to do with my positive remembrances of him.  For a period of years, we would speak sporadically—most of the time with me just getting his insight on financial matters.  When we would speak (mostly on the telephone), there was something that always affected me.  He was absolutely never in a hurry, and you would have thought that Matt had all the time in the world just to chat back and forth with me.  His company manages a billion dollars, and he has all the time in the world to speak to someone for their benefit.  It’s easy to sense when someone is anxious to end a telephone conversation, but Matt never seemed to be in a hurry.

You’re probably reading this article as you start another week.  It may be that you are already feeling the internal pressure to move quick, finish a specific task, and you may be wondering why your life never seems to slow down.  There are people who you’ll have to correspond with today, and you many not have the time to really listen to them.  Maybe you envy a person like Matt who is successful, caring and seemingly has all the time in the world when speaking with someone.  It may be that Matt concluded that living in a hurry never helped him get ahead, so he shaped his priorities well.  But a greater example than Matt lived the principles of an unhurried life to perfection.  W.F. Adams, (a mentor for C.S. Lewis) stated that:  “to walk with Jesus is to walk with a slow, unhurried pace. Hurry is the death of prayer and only impedes and spoils our work. It never advances it.”  As you start a new week, are you feeling relaxed and focused on meeting the needs of others, or stressed and fighting internal and external hurry?

One of my driving principles this year has been to reduce the hurry that I feel.  Progress has been slower than I would like, but I am sensing God validating my determination.  In sharing my own challenges with hurry, and search for God’s design for a less hurried life, I’d challenge you also to examine if the pace of your life to see if it needs re-calibrating.  Being busy is not an excuse to be hurried. My friend Matt taught me that, and Jesus certainly could claim to be busy … yet He wasn’t hurried.

An Unhurried Life, by Alan Fadling is my source on the quote mentioned above and also the words that follow.  Take these words in the context of today, and for this week.  Test your hurry!

“Anger is soul hurry. Patience is soul unhurry.  Fretting is soul hurry. Peace is a soul unhurried and at rest.  I hurry when I believe deep down that God is not watching over and caring for me.  I rush to do for myself what I somewhere, deep down, believe God is failing to do for me.”

Could it be that the real reason we tend to be impatient, rushed and internally stressed is that we are unwilling to trust God to help us accomplish our goals? I would never say I feel that way, but my actions often speak that it’s all about me and my ability … therefore I’m hurried! What about you?

I am convinced that if I called my friend Matt today, he would take all the time I needed.  I know without a doubt that Jesus gave full focus to those that needed Him at that moment.  If you and I have that rushed feeling today, those around will know it, and we may miss the opportunity to love them as we should.  Determine that unhurried is the best way, and trust God for the results of your work and your life.