Last week when I was listening to K-Love, the radio dj, Scott was talking about lent. I didn’t grow up in the church so lent is something, in my faith walk as a Christian that I know very little about. Often times when I think of lent I think of the popular things that people give up-caffeine, sugar, alcohol, social media, etc. Well yesterday Scott shared some words from his pastor about lent and my brain exploded all over my car.

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Along with bitterness, apathy, and greed, he threw in hurry and busy among other things. I took pause at that. What would it look like for me to not hurry? What would it look like in my life to not always be busy? I texted my sister and she said, “what does that even look like?” I’m not sure either but I think I’d like to find out.

I’d like to first consider what lent is. Gotquestions.org says, “Lent is a period of fasting, moderation, and self denial traditionally observed by Catholics and some Protestant denominations. It begins with Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter Sunday. The length of the Lenten fast was established in the fourth century as 46 days (40 days, not counting Sundays). During Lent, participants eat sparingly or give up a particular food or habit. It’s not uncommon for people to give up smoking during Lent, or to swear off watching television or eating candy or telling lies. It’s six weeks of self-discipline. Lent began as a way for Catholics to remind themselves of the value of repentance. The austerity of the Lenten season was seen as similar to how people in the Old Testament fasted and repented in sackcloth and ashes.” You can find the rest of the article here https://www.gotquestions.org/what-is-Lent.html

If you’ve ever fasted in a biblical sense before, or have been taught about it, you know that it’s not just about abstaining from food to fill your time with something else. Prayer and fasting go hand in hand. When we abstain from food, coffee, media, etc whether it be for lent or not, we are to use that time that we would have spent eating, preparing, mindlessly watching or scrolling to go to the Lord in prayer and lift up the person, situation, etc that is on our hearts and minds. When I was growing up in a mostly non-practicing Jewish home, I would fast with my mom for Yom Kippor(or at least try to), but I didn’t know what it meant. I wondered why we were torturing ourselves If we made it past the point when the hunger passed it became like a game to see how long I could go without eating that day. I remember putting my sleeping bag and pillow on the floor and just reading for hours. I didn’t know that this Jewish holiday had anything to do with God as I didn’t even know that there was a God.

Scott on K-Love also said that Lent isn’t about what we give up or our comfort, it’s about growing closer in our relationship with Jesus(paraphrase). And that it not something to do for a specific 40 days, it’s something to do for a lifetime walk with our Lord and savior. While I’m not out to start a Lenten tradition, I am always desiring to grow in my faith.

So, what would my life look like without hurry? What would it look like to not always be busy? Here’s what I think. I think that hurry and busy are the opposite of my word of the year-PEACE. It is also the opposite of my verse of the year, Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth. Psalm 46:10. I think creating a habit, creating a lifestyle, of un-hurry, un-busy, peace, and stillness is not just about what is going on in the physical world all around me, it is also the condition of my heart, my mind, and my soul. When I feel the need to hurry I start to unravel, becoming undone with each moment that passes, with each thing that gets in the way of me being where I need to be by a certain time, because I have a perfect picture in my head of what my day is supposed to look like. This is control. I know it’s not just me experiencing such feelings. It’s a culture of busy and hurry. Because if we aren’t busy, what are we doing anyways.

While I prepare my mind and soul for an un-hurried life, I have to think about what I need to do to get myself to that place. The three most important things I can think of are prayer, planning, and intentionality. 1-Prayer– I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength, Philippians 4:13 and I know I can’t live counter culturally in this world without God’s help. I need to be in prayer, asking God to help me mentally, spiritually, and physically to fight against the urge to hurry and be busy. 2-Planning- I know that I need to hold loosely to my plans as we live in a fallen and broken world, but if I go about my life not making any plans then I won’t be going anywhere or seeing anyone or accomplishing anything. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans, Proverbs 16:3. 3- Intentionality- living a life of purpose on purpose for a purpose. Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, Ephesians 5:15.

What if I planned a block of un-busy time instead of over-scheduling my days? What if I prioritized practicing a sabbath? What if I put a higher value on a slower and quieter life? What if I said no to the things that don’t really fit into my schedule and allowed space for family, friends, serving, creativity, and fun? What if I was mindful of my to-do list and learn to accept help? What if I could slow down my mind, ask the Lord to calm my racing thoughts, and breathe in deeply everything that I am so blessed with and stop trying to race through my days and this life?

It’s kind of a matter of perspective isn’t it? Why are we rushing? What are we trying to accomplish? Who are we trying to please? Do we long for the rat race or are we craving something more?

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothed the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you-you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34

Some days busy is inevitable. There is work, appointments, sporting events, errands to run, chores to do, family to take care of, meals to cook. None of these are bad. Actually, they are blessings and my perspective, and maybe your perspective needs to change to see them as such. But when we are so busy that we rush through them and fail to see the blessings, always looking ahead instead of living in the moment, always looking at the clock and wondering how to make it all work, that’s when we are trying to control everything around us and control is really out of our hands. Some days busy is inevitable, but if we can get our minds to a peaceful place, remembering how blessed we are, I think we can be busy without feeling like we need to hurry through each moment. And in that, there is also a level of sacrifice. Some days I won’t have time to do things that I want to do and it’s a day that the need to’s take priority. That’s life. It’s best that I learn to accept that instead of trying to fit things into places that don’t exist. Not every day will be like that, as long as we don’t let it be like that.

So what do we do if we aren’t busy? The choice is yours. Given some free time, how will you use it? Here are some suggestions(note- scrolling through social media isn’t listed). Leave me a comment and tell me what you would like to do with your time. I’d love to hear if you have created a slower life or how you plan to do so. Be well my friends. Jesus loves you.

Play a board game

Go for a walk

Exercise

Create something

Read a book

Do a puzzle

Bake

Visit a friend or call a friend