Reading That Works | The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
“Attention is the beginning of devotion.”
I am a busy person. I feel the pressure of productivity on my shoulders most of the time. Between starting another semester of school, adjusting to my new job and work, strengthening my marriage marriage, serving in the church, abiding in a personal relationship with Christ, jumpstarting my creativity, leading a small group, cleaning the house, working out, writing, podcasting, traveling, and many more responsibilities and desires, I feel the weight of everything I have to do. I feel that I have to hurry to get everything done because I want to do the things I want to do.
This is the issue- hurry. Rather than setting aside the time for the most important thing- a relationship with Jesus- I often lean toward trying to fit him into my life. This is not how we build a relationship with Jesus.
When I was dating my wife, if I had only tried to fit her in when I had time, then we wouldn't; be married. Instead, I prioritized building a relationship with her, even if it meant I had to sacrifice other things. This is an even greater truth with Jesus.
As John Mark Comer heard from his spiritual father Dallas Willard, we must relentlessly eliminate hurry from our lives if we are going to practice the way of Jesus.
Brief Summary
JMC writes the spiritual discipline book that was not a discipline to read. In a life filled with hurry, JMC argues that we should practice the way to our Lord- living an unhurried life. He argues eradicating hurry from our life is not only suggested but necessary for us to enjoy Jesus and properly apprentice ourselves to him. Hurry is the antithesis to abiding in the abode of Jesus Christ himself. If we are constantly in a hurry, we miss out on living the lives God made us to live. We rush through life, not taking the time to dwell in the presence of the Lord or the fellowship of our families. We cannot minister if we have not allowed Jesus to minister to us. We must ruthlessly eliminate hurry and instead cling onto silence and solitude, sabbath, simplicity, and slowing. Even though it seems impossible to implement this in our lives, it is essential to slow down and not hurry so we can follow Jesus.
Best Lines
“Because what you give your attention to is the person you become. Put another way: the mind is the portal to the soul, and what you fill your mind with will shape the trajectory of your character. In the end, your life is no more than the sum of what you gave your attention to. That bodes well for those apprentices of Jesus who give the bulk of their attention to him and to all that is good, beautiful, and true in his world. But not for those who give their attention to the 24-7 news cycle of outrage and anxiety and emotion-charged drama or the nonstop feed of celebrity gossip, titillation, and cultural drivel. (As if we “give” it in the first place; much of it is stolen by a clever algorithm out to monetize our precious attention.) But again: we become what we give our attention to, for better or worse.”
“Ultimately, nothing in this life, apart from God, can satisfy our desires. Tragically, we continue to chase after our desires ad infinitum. The result? A chronic state of restlessness or, worse, angst, anger, anxiety, disillusionment, depression—all of which lead to a life of hurry, a life of busyness, overload, shopping, materialism, careerism, a life of more…which in turn makes us even more restless. And the cycle spirals out of control.”
“Here’s my point: the solution to an overbusy life is not more time. It’s to slow down and simplify our lives around what really matters.”
“Attention is the beginning of devotion.”
“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.”
Big Takeaways
Be Quick, Don’t Hurry
Hurry canabalizes our joy and rest. We live our lives like we have to be 20-30 mph above the speed limit. Even through our cars can go that fast, it does not mean that they should go that fast. If you drive a car at 100+mph for an extended amount of time, you will crash, destroying your life while also potentially destroying the lives of others. We can be quick, efficient, and excellent without hurrying. We can be quick, like a basketball player. He cannot hurry, otherwise, he will miss the timing of the play. Instead, he must be quick while controlled as well.
I was often too slow to grab the rebound because I was not quick. Other times, I would commit poor turnovers because I was hurrying. I need to be quick yet not hurry. This is how we must be as Christians. Quick, yet not hurrying. We must be quick to obedience yet not hurried to accomplish more than Jesus did. We are finite. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, has empowered us to live for Him. We must be quick to make disciples of all nations, and more importantly, to be with Jesus. We must not hurry and miss out on what He can do in and through us.
Hurry to be Unhurried
There is one thing that we should hurry toward- unhurriedness. We need to rid it from our lives. We must ignore the urge to hurry and instead focus on what is important. We must do things that matter, which means throwing out hurry like you throw out the trash. This is easier said than done. It will require you to die daily to hurry and yoke yourself to Jesus. Let him carry the load. Run to be unhurried. Get rid of it like a hot pan you accidentally picked up. Toss it out so it is far gone from your presence.
Follow the Way of Jesus
If Jesus isn’t hurrying, then we have no need to hurry. If we do, we will run ahead. He cannot make our paths straight if we have hurried by him. If you pass the guide driver on a caravan road trip, what do you have to do? Wait for them to catch up so you can follow them. We must stop and wait for Jesus to be back in front of our lives. We must destroy hurry so we can desire the Holy One. If we are hurried, we will miss the beauty and splendor of His majesty.
Begin the Journey to a Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Start. Simply start the journey. You will not be a master at the beginning. Danyel and I go crazy because we are not good at certain things immediately or naturally. I want to be great at writing and creating. She wants to be great at playing music. We both know that it will take time, even though we get frustrated. I also get frustrated at a lack of visual progress. I want to hurry to the next thing too often. This is how most of us feel in our walk with Christ. We want to hurry to the next stage, to level up as a Christian to become a master.
Here’s the thing- we will never be masters. Jesus is the Master. We are his servants, his friends. It will take a lifetime for us to be great at it, and this comes only with help from the Lord. Yet, Jesus commands us to begin the journey to take up our crosses daily and follow him.
Take the next step. Sit in the quiet for a few minutes and talk to your Heavenly Father. Walk outside with no headphones. Take a Sabbath weekend. Don’t hurry. What we will remember will not be the productivity we accomplished, but the joy and relationships we experienced with God and others. Don’t hurry and miss out on it.
Bro, does it work?
Absolutely. It is a book I want to reread again this year to soak it in and implement some of the practices. Jesus instructed us to follow him. Following Him means we yoke ourselves to him so he can carry the heavy burdens. But we cannot yoke ourselves to him if we are hurrying. Don’t let it stay burning like a cigarette that ca ignite a forest fire. Instead, snuff out hurry so you can enjoy Jesus and experience what matters.
Good read