ELIMINATING HURRY

NOTE: After today I will be taking a short break due to knee replacement surgery. I hope to resume with SOUND BITES after Labor Day on September 6.

 

ELIMINATING HURRY

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”  (Psalm 46:10)

"You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life." Imagine for a moment that someone gave you this prescription, with the warning that your life depends on it. Consider the possibility that perhaps your life does depend on it. Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. Hurry can destroy our souls. Hurry can keep us from living well. As Carl Jung wrote, "Hurry is not of the devil; hurry is the devil."

Again and again, as we pursue spiritual life, we must do battle with hurry. For many of us the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it. We will just skim our lives instead of actually living them.

-- John Ortberg in “The Life You've Always Wanted” 

#5424

GOD’S WAYS LEAD TO LIFE

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”  (Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV)

God wants us to know more than His character; He also wants us to learn His ways. You see, God’s ways are not our ways. We cannot know how God acts unless He teaches us. God is infinitely wise. He sees the future. He understands our world and everything that takes place in it. God knows the eternal consequences of every action, of every act of obedience or disobedience to His Word. God’s ways lead to life. His ways bring joy. They are holy and perfect. Doing things God’s way is always best. 

-- Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby and Claude King in “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God”

#5077

ONE HANDFUL IS BETTER

If we’re going to tip the scale in a better direction, it’s going to take a radical change of belief and practice. We need new thinking based on God’s Word, not on a chorus of conflicting voices in the culture around us. With God’s help, we can create a better life for ourselves. And I believe it starts with this key principle: “Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 4:6)

Think about what this means for a moment. It is better to have less of what doesn’t matter and more of what does matter. It is better to have enough so that you can enjoy what you have than to have more and never enjoy it. Peace is better than stress. Less really is more. 

-- Chris Hodges in “The Daniel Dilemma: How to Stand Firm and Love Well in a Culture of Compromise”

#5023