#267: The Danger of Busyness

The 5 Minute Discipleship Podcast

In the 1950’s a cardiologist decided to reupholster the chairs in his waiting room. When he looked at the chairs he noticed something unusual. Only the front edges of the seats and the first few inches of the armrests were worn out. The rest of the chair was in good condition.

A few years later, the cardiologists began to put the pieces together. The chairs were being worn out in this unusual manner because of the patients irritability at being made to wait. They could not relax and were anxious over being delayed. The doctors said the patients displayed a “chronic sense of time urgency.” The patients sat on the edge of the seats and nervously fidgeted at the arms of the chairs as they watched time tick by.

The cardiologist called this new disease “hurry sickness.”

How was your week? Busy. It has become the cry of our age. I’m busy. You’re busy. Everyone is busy. The truth? Most of us feel like we are just trying to keep up. Keep up with work, bills, kids, church, soccer, Facebook, instagram, Twitter, Tiktok, and Netflix. We are always on and always available.

“What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.” (Ecclesiastes 2:22-23)

We have caught an illness from our culture. It’s called “hurry sickness.” Though busyness is worn as a badge of honor, it can be a poison that destroys what is most important to us.

Do you have any of the symptoms?

Are you irritable?

Are you anxious?

Are you reactive?

Do you chafe at waiting for anything?

Is your life filled with clutter?

What is the busy life costing us?

• A busy life is keeping us from a close relationship with God.
• A busy life is increasing our a anxiety, addiction, and depression.
• A busy life is destroying our meaningful relationships.

God’s Word offers a cure for our hurry sickness:

1. Be still before God. “Be still, and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10)

Practice being quiet. ILL: Parents - “Sit there and be quiet.” Learn to be okay to sit, reflect, pray, and listen in the presence of God.

Some of you are desperate for God’s direction for your life. It’s most likely that you are going to hear God’s voice in the quiet and still moments.

Jesus was intentionally busy., but never in a hurry. He was mentoring the disciples. He was teaching and preaching. He was healing the sick. But he also intentionally rested. He went up on the mountain to get away from the crowd, to rest and to pray.

Have you ever stopped to realize that busyness is not something that happens to us. It is something we choose. I realize we all have obligations but why have we allowed our schedules to become so full that we often do not have time for God and those we love?

It is possible that busyness has become a badge of honor. Is busyness an attempt to prove that we are significant, that our life matters, and that we are important?

God has given us all the same amount of time. 24 hours a day. 168 hours each week. You get to choose how you will fill those hours.

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16 NASB)

Quote by Pastor John Ortberg… “Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life…For many of us the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it.”

Today’s Challenge: Let God speak to your heart about your time and your schedule. Do you make time for God’s presence? Do you make time to rest? Are you making time for others. Let’s determine not to be controlled by busyness.