The curse of busyness

The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. - Isaiah 32:17

Do you ever get the feeling that if you could cross everything off of your "things to do" list, return every phone call, attend every meeting, and get everything done at home, that God would be very pleased with you? Would you, then, expect Him to sit back and say, "Good job!" much like you do when your son brings home a report card with straight A’s on it?

The fact is, we transfer our "hurry up and get things done" mentality to our relationship with God. We think that He is pleased when we attend more meetings, get to more places, and do more things. Strangely enough, when Jesus was in the midst of the busiest time of his life, He withdrew for solitude, prayer, and contemplation. Jesus believed that He could maximize His effectiveness by doing less publicly.

The solitude that we need rarely comes in chunks of undivided days when you can withdraw to a mountain retreat somewhere. It can be found in one-hour snatches when you take the telephone off the hook, refuse to answer the door, and silence the radio and TV. It’s then that you can open your Bible and quietly meditate and listen to the voice of God saying, "This is the way, walk here."

We have to walk away from the mentality that the more we do, the more God is pleased, and understand that what we are is far more important than what we do.

Isaiah chided the people of his day, saying, "This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength...’" - (Isaiah 30:15).