I have noticed in the last month or so a phrase that I keep using, especially with my kids. Typically it’s an indicator that I’m overwhelmed, impatient, feeling slowed down, or that time is running out and the whole world is about to fall apart.

Any guesses?

“Hurry Up!”

It totally reminds me of a song I used to listen to with my dad when I was a child: “I’m In A Hurry (And Don’t Know Why)” by Alabama 🙂 I’ve always felt rushed, in a hurry… I think it’s a tactic of the enemy to keep us busy and miss the rest that comes from our Heavenly Father.

So all of this has been percolating in my heart, and then I watched the documentary about Fred Rogers, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” I highly recommend this movie! It completely opened my eyes and inspired me, specifically with my own kids and with the Children’s Ministry at our church. I was challenged by Fred Rogers’ approach to life, to people, to kids – his unhurried love.

I picture Jesus in a similar manner as I read story after story in the Bible of his interactions with people. I see him pausing, looking each one in the eye, captivating their heart. Taking His time, and spending it intentionally on what mattered most.

I couldn’t find an instance where he ran from person to person. I wonder if the quality of the exchange meant more than the quantity. I did find, in Luke 19, Jesus told Zacchaeus to hurry and come down from the tree, so he could go to his house. And in the story of the prodigal, the father ran quickly to his lost son. He was quick to receive the lost, but I don’t think he was hurried in the sense that we so often are. People hurried to Him, and He welcomed them with open arms.

When we’re in a hurry, we miss the wonder – the awe – of the moment at hand. The precious gift of time.

There are so many instances when I feel like I never have enough time. I’m plagued by endless to-do lists, whether in my head or on paper… there’s always something to do. And when I sit to have some quiet time with God, it’s amazing how my mind is bombarded with all the things I “have” to go do.

I often feel like I’m too busy to sit here be still.

And then the mindset shift comes… I’m too busy not to. And the truth sets my heart free – what I do in this quiet time with God is more fulfilling, more critical, then checking off another box on my list.

He wants our hearts. He wants us. He wants our time.

Not that I’m never going to clean my house again. But I’m going to prioritize what matters. The enemy would love to keep me busy with the seen, the material, the earthly, the temporal. God is calling us to something deeper, under the surface – the unseen, the eternal, the Spiritual. Where people take precedence. Where hearts matter. Where an unhurried approach to love and life wins.

God is so patient. In our humanness, I think our impatience becomes all the more evident. But we are created in the image of our Creator. What if we learned from Him the art of being unhurried? What if we really reflected His character in this way?

Beth Moore shared an interesting insight in a bible study video – God isn’t operating with a timer; He has a stopwatch. When Jesus was born, the stopwatch began. Time is filling up, not running out. We are moving toward one event – the second coming of Jesus.

When we operate under the mindset the time is running out, we will always feel rushed and hurried. But when we live in view of time filling up until the appointed time, we can see the time we have as a gift. There is a holy urgency to reach the lost and to love others well, but the fear and worry and stress is gone.

Take each moment. Love people. Don’t be rushed. See others. Connect with their heart.

I kid you not… this song just started playing! “Not In A Hurry” by Will Reagan. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before… Take a listen! I pray this song takes root in our souls, that it can become our anthem instead of Alabama’s song about being hurried.

I want to leave you with this quote from Dallas Willard. John Ortberg asked Willard what he needed to do to be spiritually healthy.

“You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”

❤️