Always Busy
I have been thinking a lot about how busy we all are. Check out this quote from the book, If, that we are using for our new Wednesday night series:
“We are the beneficiaries of unbelievable time-saving advances in technology. I remember when you had to practically plant the corn, shuck it, start a fire, and pop it in a covered pan. Then along came the microwave, for which we are thankful. But along with the time-saving benefits, I sometimes wonder if there is a side effect. Are we not the most impatient people in history of humankind? I’ll be the first to admit, if you don’t put the pedal to the metal when the light turns green, I’m going to honk my horn. Why? Because I don’t have two seconds to spare – I’ve got places to go, things to do! We wear busyness as a badge, like an honor roll bumper sticker.”
It really blows me away when I think about this. I think about how easy it is for me to do so many things that my ancestors had to take a lot of time to do. It took me two minutes to warm up my leftovers for lunch today. Everyday I across town in a relatively short amount of time because we have vehicles and roads that allow me to do so. In my pocket I have the ability to find the answer to almost any question I can ever think of.
And yet, I find myself getting impatient a lot. I don't get a lot of road rage, but man I get frustrated when people go under the speed limit and stay in the left lane. I get upset when the power goes out at our house, because so much of what I do depends on us having electricity. And, heaven forbid it, I get upset when I don't have LTE wherever I am and have to settle for 4G. Ugh.
So why do I get so upset at these things and more? Is it because I am simply an impatient person? Maybe! Is it because I am lazy and don't want to have to do more than I have to? Perhaps, but I think it is because I am so busy. Too busy.
Mark Batterson says that we wear busyness as a badge. I think he's right. We are proud to be so busy. If we are busy, we are important. We must have a lot of interesting things going on in our life. We must have a lot of people who we are doing things with. Our culture is teaching us that busyness = good. We are taught that if we are not busy, we are lazy. This is dangerous.
God asks us to rest. He commanded it of the Israelites when He rescued them from Egypt. The God of Israel would not be a cruel taskmaster like the Pharaoh was. The God of Israel is a merciful God who allows rest. Rest is a gift.
Yet I know so many Christians who won't let themselves or others take a day off, or have a few minutes to rest, because they consider that to be a lazy thing to do.
Are we commanded to work? Certainly. When God gave Sabbath to the Israelites, it meant that they had to have a good work ethic so that they could take a day to rest. There is a balance of work and rest that has to be found. It is a sacred rhythm established by God from the beginning of time.
I was recently at a prayer retreat for youth ministers. We gathered together to pray over each other and our ministries for several hours. That's all. When we were done, a friend of mine mentioned that he almost did not come to the retreat because he thought he had too much work to do and not enough time. I was stunned by what he said. Not because I thought less of him, but because I realized I had thought the same thing. I had not admitted it to myself or anyone else there, but it had been in the back of my mind.
I am convinced that busyness is one of the greatest weapons the Enemy uses against the Church. How is it that I could be so busy doing "good" things that supported "my" ministry that I thought I didn't have time to spend a day in prayer?
When I spent a semester in Zambia, our Zambian professors would often be late to class. You see, in Zambia the people do not treat time quite like we do in the U.S. If you make an appointment with someone at 9am, that means sometime between breakfast and lunch. Our Zambian professors would often laugh at us if we expressed frustration over schedules. They would hold up someone's arm with a watch on and say, "You Americans are ruled by such a tiny thing."
I realize more and more that they were right. Busyness is an idol in many of our lives. Even if we are busy doing a lot of great things, are we giving ourselves time to spend in prayer, to rest in His presence, and to listen to Holy Spirit?
What can you do this week to be more intentional about slowing down and doing less, so that God can use you more?