Rush, Rush, Rush

Something I’ve been chewing on a lot lately is rushing. As an ADHD kind of gal, rushing is one of my built in components. You know, do as many things as you can, all at the same time!

Now, as I’ve said before, I consider my lack of focus and energy to be great gifts. I can get many things done and feel very accomplished. But something I read a couple of weeks ago got me thinking.

Nowhere in the Bible is Jesus rushed, hurried, frantically doing.

In fact, I get just the exact opposite vibe from the Bible. In speaking about Jesus’s ministry, the Bible doesn’t say “He rushed from town to town…” It doesn’t say “In order to accomplish His work here on earth (His to-do list) Jesus hurried on…” and no where could I find in the Bible that “Jesus felt so burdened by the things He had to do on this earth, in such a short period of time, that He was franticly moving about.”

We are a rushed, hurried, frantic people. The world in which we live nowadays is certainly fast paced. It definitely demands a certain amount of mania, or you will get run over. We pack our heads full of requirements of things we must do. Our calendars have no free spaces and we struggle to keep up with the demands we place on ourselves. Life is busy for everyone. It should be, living takes a lot of work. Some would say it’s overwhelming. But sometimes I’m not sure the way we’re (I’m) living is the way Jesus would have me live. Frenetically moving to the next things, even the very good things, can be detrimental. Detrimental, study on that word.

Look at Jesus’s life. He was One Busy Man. Think about what was on His to-do list. Put a plan (one formed before the universe forming) in action in three year’s time, to save the entire world. Talk about busy! Three years to save mankind. And yet Jesus still moved along enacting His plan, without hurry, without rushing, without being frantic. If anyone had a right to feel overwhelmed by what needed to be done, it was Jesus. Hmmm.

We’re not to abandon our living here on earth. We’re not to abandon our ministries, our families, our work, our living. But we are to do it in the way Jesus did it. If our lives and our ministries are frantic, we’re not likely to attract people to the Jesus. Why? Because we don’t look different. We look like the rest of the world. Panicked, agitated, frenetic. No one wants more of that.

Jesus waited 30 years to start His public ministry, He didn’t rush out of the house at 18 to take on the world. Jesus waited 2 days before returning to Judea to bring glory to the Son of God by raising Lazarus from the dead dead. After 3 days Jesus rose from the dead to save us. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

We are to mirror Jesus’s life. His life drew people unto Him. Our lives should draw people unto Him. We need to look to Him as our example and not to the world. Jesus moved along with laser focus on His purpose, with calmness and with peace. How are we moving along?