“Wait...I'm busy.”
“I'm feeling so stressed!”
“Hurry!”

These are words not recorded in Scripture.
They seem to indicate a condition of humanity,
one we do not share with the Creator of the universe
or the Redeemer of the world.
They seem to reflect a malady of disordered priorities,
an inability to distinguish the urgent from the important,
that keeps man running the hamster wheel,
believing it to be something that will get him somewhere
or at least make him feel significant through activity.

God never seemed to be in a hurry,
rushed to complete things,
pushed by people.

Jesus spent time with God
and did only those things that He saw and heard
His Father in heaven doing and saying.
There was time to eat and sleep.
There was time to walk with others.
He listened and talked to people,
was aware of their underlying needs and concerns.
His words addressed those needs.

We are often blinded to the needs of others
by the urgency of our wants.
We've taken the role of God in our lives,
and perhaps in the lives of those about,
deciding priorities and timetables,
and then stressing ourselves with accomplishment and deadlines
that may have little to do with God's ordering of our lives.

I wonder how differently the Bible would sound
were Jesus the speaker of the words above.
Would it help us to feel significant, valued by Him?
Would we want to spend time with Him?
Would we seek to lovingly serve Him?

Do not fret ~ it leads only to evil.
Psalm 37:8b

fret – to be greatly and visibly worried and distressed; be irritated or resentful

Twila Charles Leichty
14. October 2008