Replacing Urgency with Urgency

                We have all heard it said that we cannot live lives full of urgency, meaning that we cannot live our lives in such a way that the deadlines are always pressing and the errands are breathing down our necks like an angry boss tapping his foot. It is said that when we live like this, we are robbing ourselves of living a full life, one in which we can cherish the moments we have with the people we love. 
 

                Unfortunately, many of us cannot seem to get out of that cycle of “deadline – rush -- relax.” I have been battling this in my own life for some time now and have had some success in this area. I have recently been reading a book and noticed an interesting concept creeping in. As I read, in that place where my mind was someplace between actually reading and mindless daydreaming, I noticed the word “urgency” and stopped. I began to think about what this word meant to me, coming in from various angles. In one way, it meant what I have been talking about -- the case where living a life of urgency is unhealthy. However, I then started to think about what this word means to me in light of the Christian walk

                I believe that we should all replace a life drowning in urgency with a life controlled by urgency. I heard it said once that 4,500,000,000 people in this world are unbelievers (and that is an optimistically low number). With almost 7,000,000,000 people in the world today, we know for sure that thousands of those people die every day, many of whom will have a godless eternity in Hell.

                God’s mission for each of our lives is urgent. He has given us a project that has millions of due dates, and they are expiring every day. This is what I am trying to say. It is true that we need to stop living lives drowning in urgency, but we need to check our purpose for the urgency. Are we doing a better job of managing our time so that we can have an easier life or a better time with our loved ones, or are we doing it so that we will have more time and energy to creatively think of ways to reach the lost? This is so important because, unlike deadlines for school and work, these deadlines have repercussions that will reverberate down the halls of eternity.

Suggestions:

·         Pray, be sure to bring it to the Lord, and He will give you His heart for the lost. As I have heard it said; “When I work, I work. But, when I pray, God works”.

·         Get creative, think of ways to break down barriers in the relationships of your neighbors, friends, and family. Think of ways to show God’s love just as much, if not more, than ways to tell God’s love.

·         Be tenacious, don’t be scared, we all have to have that moment where we come to grips with the truth of 2 Timothy 1:7 that God has given Timothy (and us by implication) a spirit of power, and not one of timidity.

Get real with the word. It is true, live like it.

In God’s Love

~Hammy Hamilton