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“There is more to life than increasing its speed.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“At once the Spirit sent Jesus out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.” – Mark 1:12
I remember a time many years ago when my wife and I attended a yuppie church. If you’re not familiar with this phrase, I am not surprised; it hasn’t been in vogue for decades. Young Urban Professionals (YUPpies) was the group from the 80s that were in their twenties, making babies, but establishing the dual-income generation that would become commonplace in the years to come. They wore the fashion, they enjoyed a certain degree of excess, and they were very busy.
Anyway, back to the church. This bunch was totally Christian, but the pastor was not particularly firm on teaching the Bible. Don’t get me wrong, he believed in the authority of Scripture, but he wanted to make a space where people could explore their own voice on a Sunday morning without all that pesky Bible study stuff.
Case in point: he allowed his worship team to sing a song by the country band Alabama. This was no gospel tune or some folksy and veiled attempt at slipping God into the lyrics. It was a popular song called “I’m in a Hurry.” The chorus of the song goes like this:
I’m in a hurry to get things done
I’m rushin’ and rushin’ till life’s no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I’m in a hurry and don’t know why.
Forgetting the conversation about how appropriate it might be to sing a secular country song on a Sunday morning, I want you today to consider the words of this song.
Do you rush? Are you in a hurry, and if you are, do you know why?
The gospels record nine times when Jesus withdrew Himself from the crowds, and the healing, and the teaching. He left them all and retreated into solitude to be with His heavenly Father.
Perhaps the most remarkable of these moments is recorded in Mark 1. Before Jesus started anything in regard to ministry, he took forty days to go off into the wilderness by himself. What is often most discussed from this encounter is the temptation of Jesus by Satan. In fact, Matthew’s version of it describes that exchange in detail.
But I chose the much shorter description from Mark because it draws more attention to how the angels and even the animals attended to Him. It implies that before He went and busied Himself with preaching the kingdom and healing the multitudes, He saw the immense value in slowing down. In creating a quiet place for Himself. There He was able to direct His focus upon the One who would provide Him with all He needed in the days ahead.
There are many out there today who abhor silence and solitude. A slow life frightens them, because it takes the focus off all the busyness and noise and it opens up the door to look at themselves. They begin to see the brokenness of the past. They feel the unhealed wounds. They become painfully aware that they need deliverance or restoration from something.
And the irony is, if they had taken the time to regularly pull away and slow down the speed of their lives, they might find that managing that hurt would become much easier. The Father above is eager to provide healing and restoration, as long as His children are willing to sit still long enough in His presence to deal with those things that ail them.
So, ask yourself why you are so busy. Take a moment or two to consider what it is that makes slowing down so difficult or even painful. And yes, push yourself to apply the brakes on your life and begin to see the therapeutic value of living a life that’s slower.