Hurry is Incompatible with Peace

from The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

As we end our week of un-hurry, we come to the final third of the kingdom triumvirate of love, joy, and peace. And we saved the best for last.

It’s fairly obvious that peace is incompatible with hurry.

If you don’t believe me, next time you’re running late to “catch” a flight, or ten minutes late for an appointment, or overdue on an assignment, take an interior inventory and see if you feel the deep shalom of God in your soul. Do you sense a grounded, present sense of calm? Or something else?

And yet: we continue to cram more and more in to our already overfull lives, forcing us to speed up to a frenetic pace, and rarely slow down long enough to experience God’s peace. Of course, not all busyness is bad. There’s a kind of busyness that means you’re not wasting your precious life on trivial things. The problem isn’t having a lot to do, it’s having too much to do, where the only way to cram it all in is to kick into hurry gear, and as a tragic result, slip out of love, joy, and peace.

‬Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

‭‭John‬ ‭14:22‭-‬27

In our culture slow is a pejorative. When somebody has low IQ, we dub them slow. When the service at a restaurant is lousy, we call it slow. When a movie is boring, again, we complain that it’s slow. Case in point, Merriam-Webster: “mentally dull: stupid: naturally inert or sluggish: lacking in readiness, promptness, or willingness.”

The message is clear: slow is bad, fast is good.

But in the upside-down kingdom, our value system is turned on its head: hurry is of the devil; slow is of Jesus, because Jesus is what love, joy and peace look like in flesh and blood.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:15‭-‬17‬

Exercise for the day: A moment of quiet

Take a few minutes – ideally at the beginning of your day, or whenever works best for you – and simply do nothing. Just be. Stand in silent love before God. Sit there long enough for the peace of his Spirit to well up inside your body. Thank him for it.

Reading question: When I enter a room, do I bring with me a spirit of peace, or anxiety?