Hurry!

​Hurry! How many times a day do we hear or say that word? 

“Hurry! This sale ends soon.” 
“Hurry up and finish your breakfast!”
“Hurry — you’ll be late!”

Psalm 23 opens with images of green pastures, quiet waters, and refreshment. It’s David’s picture of God’s care that causes him to confidently say, “I lack nothing.” God’s care is so reliable and competent that we can echo David: We lack nothing we need.

“Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” — Dallas Willard.* 

Hurry is the inner distress we feel when we scramble to make things fit into our day, or to meet the expectations put upon us. Being busy is an exterior condition, and by itself it is not damaging. Hurry, on the other hand, prevents us from connecting well with God and others. 

One can move quickly and not hurry. This is true because God leads us beside quiet waters. His quiet waters bring stillness our souls. 

Unless we run away, and sometimes we do. 

The LORD is my shepherd. I lack nothing.


*quoted in Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You, by John Ortberg, (p. 20) Zondervan.