I think this every single time I go to the Doctor’s office. Every. Single. Time. You know the feeling, although maybe it isn’t at the Doctor’s office. You think you’re going to be late so you rush. Faster, faster! Everyone out of the way, I’m going to be late to my appointment! Then you get there, maybe just a few minutes late. Whew, you think to yourself, I made it! By then you’ve worked yourself up and you’re irritated because you had to rush but at the same time you are congratulating yourself. You go to check in for your appointment and maybe you even tell the receptionist that you’re sorry that you were running late.
Then you wait. And wait. And wait. Then you get a chance to wait some more. Then you get even more irritated because you rushed to get to your appointment. Then you wait.
You’ve had this happen to you. It’s a terrible feeling, isn’t it? The whole act of rushing is a terrible feeling. That anxiety that we get, that irritation because we are trying so hard to move so fast. We lose our concentration when we hurry so much. Ever notice that when you are rushing it seems that everything starts to go wrong? You drop your keys, the door won’t lock, you forget your water bottle, and you hit every red light.
What if Jesus rushed? Oh I don’t have time to heal you, I’ve got to go speak in Parables over there! What storm? It’s just a few waves, come on everyone, put your hands into the water and paddle! Move, move, move!
You see, He didn’t rush because He understood that only through patience can love be born. He understood and had it in his heart that he had to be patient with us. His patience was born through love for us and through his love was born patience. He didn’t rush anything at any time for anyone.
My point is that we’ve got to be patient. Rushing and hurrying are not God-inspired character traits. If we look at the concept of hurrying, couldn’t we say that the enemy is at the heart of hurrying? We hurry. Why? The root cause is that we hurry because we have anxiety or we worry about something. Being late, needing to finish a project, or trying to simply move on to the next thing we think is more important than what we are doing in the moment. Those all cause anxiety and worry and so our reaction is to hurry up and move through things too quickly. Unfortunately the hurrying up ultimately causes grief and/or upset on some level, either for ourselves or for someone around us. We forget things. We ignore people and situations that otherwise need our attention. Hurrying just isn’t worth it.
So the next time you feel like you have to hurry up, don’t. Think things through. Move efficiently, not recklessly. Don’t hurry up to the point where you work yourself into a frenzy and start to lose control like a destructive tornado. Take a deep breath. Trust in God and His ability to calm the anxiety and worry that are driving your need to feel like you should be in a hurry. Say a prayer. It doesn’t have to be long.
Close your eyes for just a few seconds. “Father, I am working myself up over this. Please help me to stop rushing. Help me to calm my soul and help me to focus, amen.” It really can be just that short. Acknowledge that you know He is the answer to everything. Move efficiently and calmly. Under God’s Umbrella.
