NOT SO HAPPILY HASTEELY

THE SCENARIO: Hasteely is in a hurry. They sure juggle a busy schedule—family, job, school, church activities... And they are the kind of person who cannot quit until everything in each of these areas has been quite properly attended to, and so Hasteely is in a hurry a lot to see things through aright. In fact, Hasteely has gotten so busy that they have to buzz over most of their responsibilities just to keep up—let alone to see to them properly as they would like. What really tears them up though is that they cannot put in any deep down quality time with family, friends, or their Savior anymore.

In the outworking of this scenario please consider the following:

1. Hasteely reminds us of our Lord's friend Martha (Luk 10:38-42). But Hasteely would be quite upset if one suggested to them that family, job, school, and church activities, etc., had become a distraction; still, it is clear that they have become just that. In part Jesus explained the situation to Martha by way of commending Mary's focus (He also came right out and told Martha she was distracted). Suppose you were a pastor—how would you steer Hasteely to the sole thing necessary (Jesus) in their life, thus bringing the joy of the Lord back into their life? Suppose you were a Christian but not a pastor, how would you steer your distracted Christian friend to the sole thing necessary in their life? How about a non-Christian friend, how would you do it in that case? What Scripture and biblical precedents would you base your guidance on in these cases? How specifically would you ask God to help you here?

2. One of the consequences of Hasteely's busyness of course is that a given objective, whether familial, or secular, or spiritual, ends up being rushed through so they can get on to their next objective. Notice that these three areas can often end up on the same plane of import this way, and then get addressed by way of a sort of non-discretionary “task sheet” mindset. Our secular responsibilities are well-served by this mindset, but familial and certainly spiritual motivations are not. When our God hears a hasty prayer, or commitment, is He not being mocked—consider Ecc 5:2 here; please ask God to show you a couple of other verses in this regard. How about a task sheet mindset toward Him—that must hurt Him too one reckons.

3. The Christian Bible does not discriminate motivations. Hasteely may be quite nobly motivated, but if their work—in whatever area—is a rush, it will come to naught—consider Pro 21:5. This verse commends an intelligent work load—how do you read this verse?

4. We suspect that Hasteely may actually be a perfectionist. This may seem contradictory, but they likely are overloading because of the so-called “perfectionist's drive.” In the end, when they cannot bring their perfectionist norms to bear because of the overload, they are compelled to hastily push ahead anyway in a rush to get there, to the detriment (poverty-Pro 21:5) of the outcome. Now suppose there was some semblance of truth to this perfectionist idea. Is there a connection here to pride; that is, is the sin of pride at the root of perfectionism, or is perfectionism “o.k.” as far as Scripture is concerned? Does Scripture give us any guidance as to perfectionism, or just as to its fallout? When God wants us to be perfect like He is perfect, does that pertain only to our blamelessness/holiness before Him (Lev 11:45, Lev 20:26, Deu 18:13, Mat 5:48, et al.), or otherwise too? Consider that the former may be attained to with no “work” through faith in Jesus Christ, but we have no means of attaining to the latter but by endless work, which is not attainment at all, implying that the former is feasible while the latter is futility. A perfectionist can be perfect in Christ, and thus satiated, or “perfect” without Him, and thus ever anhungered. Would you agree that perfection in Christ spills over into all areas of human endeavor—why/why not on a Scriptural basis?

5. To be in a hurry is a vexation to the soul; there is never any peace in that. It cannot be helped sometimes of course, but however it comes it is not pleasant usually. Our world has gotten into such a hurry. All of the gadgetry around us seems to be geared toward making life happen faster and faster. In a hurry-up world such as ours the Gospel of Jesus Christ is like a good ol' overstuffed chair that beckons:

“Sit and rest a while and appreciate that I can help you; let me help you manage that load; let's talk this through...” (Mat 6:25-34, Jhn 14:12-15, Jhn 14:21-23, Jhn 16:23-24, 1Jo 5:13-15, Rev 3:20, and O so many more blessed assurances like these...).

Sure, its primary message is Redemption, but wrapped up in that is the peace of Almighty Jehovah God (Jhn 14:27, Phl 4:6-7); soul balm in a hurry-up world for the believer in that God.

6. Considering point 5 just above, Hasteely has lost that peaceful intimacy through disconnectedness to their God (distraction). They are not out of the fold by any means, we don't mean to suggest that, but their Peace is “gone,” and this hurry-up world has its way with such a one, yea twofold, for they knew that peace once, but now are wanting, and it stings doubly bad because they remember how sweet that peace is—that is our “sweet spot”—we are at our best there (for God and self). They have let busyness rob them sore because their relationships, not just their output, are impoverished by a hasty service of the same in effort to “get it all done.” Christ help us to just stop doing that. Would you agree that a Christian can just make that choice here and then prayerfully wade into those waters and “go for it,” trusting Jehovah God to bless our effort and keep us afloat?

7. Finally, how specifically would you categorize “deep-down” quality time with:

(a) your family,

(b) your friends,

(c) your Savior.

Are you o.k. with these, or is busyness (or otherwise) robbing you here somewhere? It is our prayer that you are o.k. across the board. Christ bless you and yours Christian friend.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE LEGEND

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