In the late-1990’s Willow Creek Community Church Pastor John Ortberg once called his mentor, Dallas Willard, and asked him what he needed to do to become the “me I want to be”? Willard answered, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”
Ortberg points out that hurry involves an excessive haste or a state of urgency. It is associated with words such as hurl, hurdle, hurly-burly (meaning “uproar”), and hurricane. It is defined as a “state of frantic effort one falls into in response to inadequacy, fear, and guilt.” The simple essence of hurry is too much to do!
We should take it as our aim to live our lives entirely without hurry. We should form a clear intention to live without hurry. One day at a time, starting today.
The average iPhone user touches his or her phone 2,617 times a day. By way of contrast, the psalmist said, “I have set the LORD always before me” (Psalm 16:8). What would your life be like if God touched your mind as frequently as you touch your phone?
The apostle Paul wrote, “[Make] the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).
Ortberg urges, “Take a deep breath. Put your cell phone away. Let your heart slow down. Let God take care of the world.”
Let’s turn to John Mark Comer for his advice on how to stay emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of our modern world.
Click here for a summary of Comer’s The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
