Unhurried
Where did May go? It seems just like yesterday it was Memorial Day weekend. I hope you had a great one and I pray you were blessed on that special day and weekend as we honored and remembered those who as President Lincoln said in his Gettysburg address, “gave their last measure of devotion!” God bless all of those who gave their lives in battle and for everyone who fought and served our great country. Thank you.
Now, with Memorial Day passed, summer is officially upon us. Last week we are already feeling the summer temps! This summer will be different I hope and pray for all of us. We all will be able to do more and hopefully even enjoy more moments with friends, families with great food and fun (notice the alliteration, it still comes out!)
In this season of life, I keep coming back to one word – unhurried. The definition online is simple – not in a hurry. That helps right?
Here are the synonyms the dictionary gives: crawling, creeping, dallying, dawdling, dillydallying, dragging, lagging, poking, poky (or pokey), slow, sluggish, snail-paced, snaillike, tardy.
These words do not really speak to what I am trying to convey because what I am talking about is not being lazy, tardy or my favorite, dillydallying!!
For me, when I say unhurried, I mean to take time where we pause, retreat from the pace of life and enjoy the moments. Our soul needs these moments, it craves it and when our soul is healthy, it makes a HUGE difference in every area of our life.
Remember, you and are all souls with a body, not the other way around. This body will one day go away, but our soul...it is eternal and will live on forever either in heaven thru Jesus as our Savior or eternally separated from God in hell because of not trusting in Jesus.
Our soul must be saved and if it has been, we must also care for our soul until we get to heaven.
I have been preaching recently at Center on this thought: How is Your Soul? How are you on the inside?
The question is meant to cause us to ask: is there rest, peace, and contentment in our soul? Jesus said we could find rest for our souls, but do we really need it and is there really a place of rest for our souls?
The key to finding out is unlocked in the seeking unhurried moments.
The issue is, we are ALL in a hurry and our minds and our bodies are trying to outrun our souls! It reminds me of the great theologians Alabama:
I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why.
Can't be late
I leave plenty of time
Shaking hands with the clock
I can't stop
I'm on a roll and I'm ready to rock
I hear a voice
That say's I'm running behind
I better pick up my pace
It's a race
And there ain't no room
For someone in second place.
I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why.
Does your life live out this song? We have to all agree that our life gets busy and we all rush and rush and sometimes we don't even know why? We hear that voice saying - go, go, go and keep going and don't stop!!
Here is the problem, our soul cannot keep up that pace. It was never meant to.
One missionary tells a story of being in the thickest jungle and going from village to village and the guide for the group had pushed them hard one day to get from one place to the other but then the next morning he told the group they would rest that day.
When asked why, the guide simply said - we must give our soul time to catch up to us!! WOW!
Could this be true? Certainty on one level, absolutely. One great man of God said it so plainly, "the greatest enemy of the soul is hurry!"
That is why when we hear this word unhurried we all go, that sounds great but I do not have time to take the time. But I would say, and I know this to be true, you will either take the time or the time will take you!!
One pastor I follow said we must fight for unhurried times in our lives, especially when it comes to spending time with Jesus. I know what you are going to say, but you just don’t understand, I have too much to do. I get it, I really do.
But ask yourself this question, are you busier than Jesus was while He was here on this earth?
Did you know, Mark’s gospel tells us that after a terribly busy day, guess what He did the very next morning, “and in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”
In other words, Jesus fought for unhurried times with the Father. If he did, I am fairly sure I need to!!
The summer is a great time for that as well as other unhurried moments. We still must be intentional but after the season we all have come through, we need to fight for sometimes of pause and rest for our souls!!
Unhurried times with Jesus in His word and in prayer. Unhurried times with your friends and family around a table, a fire pit, in the mountains or by the beach. Or just in your front yard enjoying an unhurried summer night.
Even for church, don’t rush in and rush out, look for times to come in and talk to folks and stay after and fellowship with folks in the parking lot.
Whatever may fill your soul, take time to do it this summer, in a slower pace. You will be glad you did.
Enjoy your summer, unhurried!!
Pastor Michael