Nobody Likes the Person Who Always Says “I’m So Busy”
Busy versus hurried
“Hurry is what rips 1 Corinthians 13 out of the Bible.” — Jan Johnson
Everybody’s busy these days. You probably have that one friend or co-worker who is always “so busy”, who wears busy like a badge of honor and constantly complains about how busy she is but does nothing to change it.
It is draining to be around these people. They suck up your energy and leave you feeling like a used-up tissue. They’re really no fun to be with and they insinuate that if you aren’t as stressed as they are you must not be working as hard or doing as much as you can with your life. They exude hurry and harassed but for all their hurrying they never seem to catch up with life.
I say: run from these people because “hurry is what rips 1 Corinthians 13 out of the Bible.” 1 Corinthians 13 is referred to as the “love chapter” in the New Testament. It includes instructions on what love looks like in action: patient, kind, forgiving. And a lot of what love isn’t: self-seeking, easily angered, envious.
If I could add one thing to this list, I’d add that love isn’t in a hurry. How can we love others when we’re always rushing from one thing to another? How can we make others feel loved when we’re distracted and hurried?
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4–6, NIV)
One look at the life of Jesus and we can see that He was a busy man. Read Luke 8:22–54 and the recorded timeline of a few days of his life. Traveling, casting out demons, raising the dead, healing the sick…very busy, indeed!
Now look closely at these stories in this passage and notice how Jesus interacted with the people He encountered. It occurs to me that Jesus was never hurried. Even during a terrible storm, He exuded peace!
Each person or event on which Jesus focused received his authentic, undivided attention and love. He wasn’t casting his eyes about the crowd to see who was next in line to shake his hand. He didn’t need to consult with Matthew about the agenda for the day to see if his team was still on schedule.
He focused on the person or the need directly in front of him. And this is how we can love others as Jesus did.
It’s unrealistic to expect that we’ll never have deadlines or scheduled appointments, but we don’t have to approach our lives with a hurried spirit.
By being intentional about where we’ll spend our time and what activities will fill our lives, we can walk in a state of purpose, as Jesus did. We can look at people who cross our paths — as we walk through our day — and we can notice them. And when we notice them we can love them.
And here is an even more radical thought: what if you stopped setting your own agenda and let God bring you the day's activities? What if you were open to interruptions, unexpected phone calls, or the nudges of the Spirit? What a joy to abide in the Spirit this way.
Because being hurried doesn’t just hurt you, it hurts those around you too.
“I have always been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted; then I realized that the interruptions were my work.”― Henri J.M. Nouwen
Check your busy — is it just an excuse for a hurried spirit?
A Simple Prayer: Lord, help me to live a life that is not hurried. I want to discern the difference between busy and hurried. I want to be emotionally and spiritually available to people when they need me. I want to be a person who loves others well by noticing them. Amen.
Simple Ways to Create an Unhurried Spirit
➢ Take your eyes away from the computer/smartphone/current project when your child or partner walks into your office to ask you a question.
➢ Look away from your phone (better yet, put it away) while waiting in lines, for appointments, or at the airport. Observe, make eye contact, start a conversation, and silently pray for God to show you someone who needs you to notice them.
➢ Leave plenty of margin in your day. Say no more often and don’t overschedule yourself. Resist the urge to fill in all the empty spaces.
Finally, if feeling productive or busy has become an addiction in your life, you might be worshiping at the altar of productivity!
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