Slowing Down

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” - Proverbs 19:21

In the United States, busyness has become a way of life. In fact, I think that many of us are too busy to even know we are busy. Edward M. Hallowell, a psychiatrist and author of “CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked and About to Snap” (Ballantine Books, 2006) writes about how he knew he had gone from busy to crazy busy when we got mad at a rotary phone while on vacation. Unable to use his cellphone, it drove him nuts to wait for the dial to return to start. Then, calming himself, he timed how long the dialing actually took: 11 seconds. “What a fool I had become,” he writes. “I had become a man in a hurry even when I had no need to hurry.”

Does this sound familiar? Do you ever find yourself in line at the grocery store, silently seething as you “race” with the person in line next to you whose cashier is way faster than yours? Do you find yourself shouting at the driver in front of you…what kind of person actually goes the speed limit? Why are we so busy? What is so important?

Thomas Edison once said: “Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.”

From the outside, it can appear that we are busy for good cause. But I challenge us all to take some time to prayerfully contemplate our schedules. Like Edison said, seeming to do is not the same as doing. As Christ followers we have the privilege to join in His eternal work. I wonder how much of our busyness is for Christ’s purposes and not our own. We can work ourselves to death – but it is God’s purpose that will prevail.

Do you find yourself in a crazy busy season of life? If so, take the time to rest in Jesus, allowing Him to prioritize your schedule.

Dear God, Please help me to slow down and rest in You. Give me wisdom to discern what is important and what is not in my schedule. Thank You for the privilege of joining in Your purposes.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.