Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 NLT
“Too busy for God” was a phrase that ran through my head this past fall as I found myself and my wife Mikaela going busy about our daily task, but also what I see in society as a whole. It prompts me to wonder if it pains God, our loving Creator, that his creation is too busy for him? In the spring of 2016, I took a grad course from Indiana Wesleyan University called Spiritual Life and Leadership. This course focuses on the inflow and outflow of a deepening spiritual life which results in difference-making leadership. One of the books that I was required to read was titled “Addicted to Hurry: Spiritual Strategies for Slowing Down” by Kirk Byron Jones. I heavily resonated with the book and realized my own spiritual deficiencies in allowing my schedule and plans of life to influence my walk with God. In other words, I was not properly submitting my schedule and plans to God in fully allowing him to come into my life and guide me because I wanted to be in control and in reality I never will be without him. While I am in a better place than I used to be, I still find myself being weighed down by the concerns and worries of life at times. When this happens I am reminded to stop, breathe, and seek the Creator of rest.
The reality is, we fill our lives with daily task and while we are still doing the task of the day we think of the things to come the next day and the day after that further continuing the process of hurry. From our personal relationship with God, family, friends, co-workers, studies, ministry, and many other things, we are go, go, go and never giving the thought to slow down. In Addicted to Hurry, Jones discusses our “need for speed” and how it is “an unhealthy addiction; when hurry becomes a condition, when we run even when there is no reason to” in our lives and thus we have become addicted to hurry.
Even as we get ready for bed we think of all the things tomorrow holds. As we lay down, things to do jump into our head and so we reach for our phone, calendar, or journal to write what we must do. Even in the midst of going to sleep, a time specifically for rest, our minds and hearts become anxious as we worry and concern ourselves with things to do.
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Matthew 6:33-34 NLT
Many things in life cause us to run. The bigger picture of these things we run from as Jones describes is that sometimes we “run away from aches and fears, from ourselves, and from God” unfortunately. Or we run to get things done, time is ticking away, too much to do, to catch up, to be recognized, and much more. I feel that many of us run from fear of being overwhelmed of the many things to do in life and so in order not to be overwhelmed as we fear, we in contrast unintentionally end up overwhelming ourselves by hurrying away from our fear of not being in control. I can say I carried more of this mindset earlier in my life and now I am reminded of the words of Jesus in teaching about worry as he says…
“Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?”
Matthew 6:27 NLT
For me personally when I took this grad course at IWU, in identifying with what made me run was to keep at pace with my busy life and at the same time seem to be playing catch up. I ran from fear that I am not doing enough and thus end up overwhelming myself because I want to be purposeful and not wasting my time with the life that God has given me. At times I still catch myself in this or am affirmed by Mikaela that I am indeed doing enough and if anything to much at times, haha. But when I read that “God does not need our exhaustion. There is nothing holy about running ourselves into the ground” it greatly impacts me in how true this statement is. I have been working towards remembering and acting upon resting and what it does for me physically and spiritually to be still and rest.
If you think about how the American culture is geared, it is one that is geared in the highest gear possible. Between literally traffic, business production, media, social media, ads, fast food restaurants, kids school programs, and much more. I am sure you could easily add to this list and what your life holds for you. In October last year I attended the Campus Ministry Theological Exploration of Vocation (CMTEV) in Indianapolis. This is the third year I have been at this annual gathering of staff, directors, priest, and others from over 100 college campus ministries across the United States who are a part of a grant by Lily Endowment. This is a refreshing time in talking with many other campus ministry leaders in seeing how God is at work across the nation in the lives of students, but also a refreshing time because time for rest is incorporated into the schedule of this conference. My favorite part of this gathering is the small group time where individuals are put in groups of 5 to 9 people. One evening while talking with my small group, I expressed how it is easy for those of us in ministry to be so busy we forget to take time to rest and I referenced Jones book Addicted to Hurry. One of the ladies in the group looked the book up on Amazon as we sat there and beneath the price it said, “Hurry only 2 left!” The humor in looking to buy a book on slowing down, only to be rushed to order the book before Amazon ran out of stock was quite amusing. Many aspects of society have hurry ingrained into them even if we do not realize it.
I think it is amazing of how we so easily forget and take for granted the gift of rest. As early as Genesis 2 we read…
“So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.”
Genesis 2:1-3 NLT
Later in Exodus 20, we find the Ten Commandments and in verses 8-11 we find the fourth commandment, which is, “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exod. 20:8 NLT). In reading through to verse 11, we are reminded that it is not our work that supplies our needs, but that our needs are supplied by God in his wonderful grace. Rest is a gift from God. As my study Bible eloquently puts it, for Christians, “to be in covenant with God is to do what God does; since he rested from his work, how can we think that we need no rest?” One Sunday last summer while Mikaela and I were at Bethany Christian Church, their pastor Bob Bell believes that of the Ten Commandments, the fourth commandment is the most broken of them all. Shortly afterwards the church ordered t-shirts that those in the congregation could acquire and on the front of them you will see a speed limit sign stating “3 M.P.H” and I will let you reflect on what this might mean without saying more.
What is possible to help slow us down is the power of choosing to do so as Jones discusses in his book. The power of choice is undervalued a lot and for me I doubt the true power of it as I let my fear of not getting things done control me, rather me choosing to not let it control me. Also understanding that it is okay to slowdown, rest, relax, and take it easy is simple yet important to remember and reflect upon. Knowing that I can rely on the power of God to give me peace and rest. Seeking to know God, to continue to spiritually grow in understanding in who he is through Scripture and prayer, is something that I know will help me and others greatly. That for me, I know that in my weariness and business I can seek God and He can give me not only physical rest, but more importantly, spiritual rest.
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
1 Peter 5:7 NLT
With all that being said, something I have done and perhaps would be good for yourself as well, is to create a plan to slow down. The following is an example of what I have created for myself.
1. Remind myself that rest is a gift from God.
2. Praying and seeking God every day for His guidance and council.
3. Quiet times with God (through contemplative prayer and in nature).
4. Being intentionally aware of my physical and spiritual health.
5. Reflectively asking myself on a weekly basis, “How am I really doing?”
6. Having accountability partners that I am lined up with that can tell when I am getting to busy and can tell me I need to slow down and rest.
7. Observe what is going on around me rather than just rushing by.
8. Reminding myself it is okay to take it easy and relax.
9. Being spiritually thoughtful of things happening around me, knowing the deeper purposes behind them.
10. Focusing on today and not worrying about the next day.
11. Take my time and enjoy what I am doing instead of rushing on to the next thing.
Best Regards, Derrick Shipley