Hurry Up!

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

-Lao tzu

This is the note I have by our coffee maker because I am an avid “hurry upper”.

Do you know what I mean? When I set goals, I want to hurry and accomplish them. When I start something, I want to hurry and finish it. When I’m in a season (especially bad), I want to hurry through it to get to the next. As an ambitious person, I can subconsciously get caught in hurrying through a task (even if it’s enjoyable) so that I can check it off my list.

Therefore, my hurrying becomes an idle of achievement.

Here’s what happens when I hurry:

– The quality of my work suffers.

– My mind is focused on the end goal.

– I miss out on present opportunities.

– It turns my relationships into tasks.

– It makes my to-do list an idol.

Hurrying breeds impatience which is the gateway to impulsive action. On the other hand, slowing down takes deliberate patience, trust, and focus on the present moment. It encourages playing the long game and waiting on God’s perfect timing on a day-to-day basis. It forces us to remain in the present.

So, let’s take a cue from nature; The flower blooms with the perfect amount of rain. The snow melts right on time to feed the rivers for Summer. The sun comes up at the same time every day – all in God’s perfect timing. He does not have a to-do list. He does not hurry.

Nature, like God, is steadfast.

So let us trust that if God provides the work, He will provide the will, the way, and the time to get it all done without hurrying through it. All we must do is focus on the day in front of us.

Inspiration:

Matt. 6:28: So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin.

Prov. 21:5: The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

2 Peter 3:8-9: But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

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