HURRY SICKNESS

By Pastor Timothy Fortune

We live in an instant society. We have instant coffee, instant replay, instant polls, and instant messaging all in the pursuit of instant gratification. We have a galore of products to help us save those milliseconds. In our cars, while talking on the cell phone, we can read e-mails from our palm pilots, eat our pop tarts we heated up in our microwave. And if we are still hungry we can grab some fast food from the local drive through.

Webster’s dictionary defines hurry as, to carry or cause to go with haste, to impel to a great speed, to move or act with haste.

Did you every stop to notice the cars in the “Indy 500” race? Of all cars that begin that race each year, less than half finish the race. Not a great performance for the most expensive, best engineered, and most carefully maintained cars with a price tag of approximately 5 million dollars. What is the single greatest factor leading to their failure? They are driven at one speed – and the faster the better.

More is sometimes less. When we are continually running at warp speed assuming our efforts are being beneficial yet in the wake of the hurriedness we bypass some of life’s most joyous experiences. When was the last time your family prepared a meal, gathered around the table, and enjoyed one another’s company? Ecclesiastes 3:1 says “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” To everything there is a season…… a time to work hard and a time to slow down, a time to sacrifice and a to enjoy.

An elderly patient was once asked “If you could have anything for Christmas, what would it be?” Her reply was “To hear the little pitter-patter of feet running down my hallways, to be able to change a diaper, to rock a baby to sleep.”

Regardless of where you are at in life don’t rush it. Time goes by fast enough on it’s own. Take time to smell the roses, enjoy the free things of life…. bird’s chirping, flower’s blooming, sunrise, sunsets, wildlife, walking, hanging out, lying in the grass or talking with friends.

Have you and a close friend ever been in a hurry to go somewhere and one of you mentioned something that had to be done? But, the one receiving the instructions was in such a hurry they did not hear the instructions given; consequently, something was left undone or forgotten. Sometimes that is how we are with God. We wake up in the morning to a flood of thoughts about the task we must accomplish during the day. Already feeling rushed before we even take a shower; our day begins at a rat race pace. Going warp speed out the door, we miss the gentle calling of our Heavenly Father and neglect to hear His instructions. Thus, our day is filled with worry, pain, misdirection and heartaches.

Psalms 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” It’s hard to know that He is God when we are so hurried we cannot be still. You need times of meditation and relaxation. These have different purposes. When you are relaxing, you allow your body to recover from stress or fatigue. Down-time is essential for a balanced life. Meditation on God and His Word renews and reenergizes your spirit allowing you to function as a whole person. Matthew 14:23, Mark 1:35, Luke 4:42, 5:16 and 9:28 all talk about how Jesus departed into solitude to pray.

We should not allow our modern society to become our role model. Jesus was never in a hurry. Remember in John 11 when they came to Jesus and told Him Lazarus was sick? Verse 6 says Jesus stayed two more days. Jesus did not allow trouble or circumstance to rush Him. In Mark 4:36-40 the disciples and Jesus are in a boat and a storm arises so big that waves began filling the boat. The disciples panic but where is Jesus? He is ASLEEP. Did Jesus panic? NO! He wasn’t even concerned; He was asleep. What a picture of the old adage, “peace in the mist of the storm.” Jesus never rushed anywhere. He was living each moment to it’s fullest, taking advantage of every opportunity to build relationships, teach and give direction.

John Wesley worked hard. He traveled thousands of miles on horseback, preached over 44,000 sermons and cared for 70,000 Methodist parishioners. But throughout his busy life he would say, “Though I am always in a haste, I am never in a hurry, because I never undertake any more work than I can get through with perfect calmness of spirit.” He also said, “I have no time to be in a hurry.”

Hurry sickness was identified some 40 years ago by a cardiologist who recognized that nearly all his heart-disease patients had a lifestyle of hurry. I read an article that stated more than ¾ of the problems for which we seek medical attention are related to the speed and stress with which we function.

Now let me inject here that I am not talking about being lazy. We all have obligations and responsibilities. I’m not talking about floating through life carelessly, never aspiring to become something. I’m not saying don’t go above and beyond the call of duty or strive to be the best. What I am saying is don’t get so focused on the quantity of life that you miss the quality of life and the joy of living.

In closing, here are 6 suggestions that can help you change your life:

1- Cultivate a satisfying relationship with God. You will never understand the true meaning of life and how to live outside of a relationship with Jesus.

2-Examine your wok habits and make necessary changes. Even God after creating the world took time to rest. Genesis 2:2

3- Change your attitude towards life. Attitudes are just ways of looking at life, and how we see life determines how we react to it. In the business of living, serenity and right attitudes go hand in hand.

4-Change your sleep habits so you obtain sufficient rest. Dr. Archibald Hart says, “Most of us get too little sleep and wear out parts of our body before their time.” It is recommended you go to bed and get up at the same time each day.

5-Use appropriate music to counter your mood swings. Different music works for different people. In 2 Kings 3:15 Elisha asked for a musician before he brought forth the word of the Lord.

6- Schedule daily relaxation. It is not a sin to have fun and a good time. 1 Timothy 6:17 says, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, not to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.”