Rush Is My Middle Name - WorkLife.org

(This is a transcript of five short radio talks)

Rush, rush; busy, busy; hurry, hurry! My life is full of those words, how about yours? Sometimes I think "rush" is my middle name. As I talk to Christian working people across the country, this seems to be one of the more common problems with which we all struggle. I want to talk about how we get caught up in this spinning wheel syndrome, and how a Christian fights back.

A typical day for many of us would start with rushing off to our jobs, fighting our way through rush traffic, and then rushing to meet deadlines and get the rush jobs done. We rush and hurry to try to please our managers, who seem to always want everything in a rush. Doesn't it seem as though every job ends up in a last minute rush?

Once we leave the job, we rush to do some necessary shopping, fighting the crowds in the supermarket, and then rush on home where many duties await us and perhaps other family members as well, who are equally rushed with their lives and commitments. So, we rush through our meal, and through the evening activities we've planned, and then we drop into our beds exhausted, to catch a few ZZZ's, so we can be ready to start the rush the next day.

Let me ask you a question: Do you stand in front of your microwave and say, "Come on, hurry up!"? Bet you do! We live in that kind of world where everything's built for speed and what was fast yesterday seems slow today.

Psychiatrist C. G. Jung once remarked, "Hurry is not of the Devil; it is the Devil." I have to stop and ask myself how much of my rushing is necessary, and how much of it is out of control and unnecessary?

As a Christian I'm learning that I have to fight back at this world system, whose message is that activity equals significance, busyness equals meaningful, rushed equals productive. We find ourselves evaluating people by the "rush factor": The busier you are, the more important and successful you must be!

And in the midst of all that rush, the Bible says to us: "Be still and know that I am God." Christians, of all people, should not live out of control, constantly in frantic mode, always rushed. When we let the world pour us into that mold, we easily lose our uniqueness and look just like everyone else around us. What we need today is more Christians in the midst of this hurry-up society who demonstrate that Christ brings order into the chaos, meaning into the mundane, and tranquility into the frazzled fray.

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Now, those of you who know me will testify that all too often the phrase "Rush Is My Middle Name" is true about me. In my obsession to use every minute productively, many times I rush for no good reason at all. I just get caught up in rush mode. I try to catch myself and ask: "Is it really necessary to rush?" Many times it's not, but, you see, "rush" is my middle name!

I'm quite certain many of you have similar tendencies. How do we as Christians keep from being swallowed up in this rush mentality? I am convinced that one of our greatest witnessing tools to the generation in which we live is a peaceful, meaningful, centered lifestyle.

Believe me, people all around you are rushing and hurrying to try to find meaning in their lives. They're staying busy to fill up the empty spaces inside of them. And they recognize peaceful and tranquil when they see it. It is attractive; it is what they're looking for. How often do they see it in your life?

I've told you this story before, but it bears repeating. Janet is a Board member here at The Christian Working Woman. She accepted Christ several years ago, and the thing that brought her to that point of acceptance was the tranquility of one of her co-workers.

She has a PhD in Biology and at that time worked in a very rushed and hectic scientific lab. She said the atmosphere of that lab was frantic all the time. The deadlines and demands were very stressful, and so, rushing was the order of every day.

But in the midst of all this, she noticed one man who did his work as well as the rest of them, who was as smart as everyone else, but somehow in the midst of that chaotic environment, he never seemed rushed or frantic.

After observing him for a long time, she finally said to him one day, "Jim, how can you be so calm in this job?" And he shared his faith in Christ with her, and encouraged her to start reading the Bible. After three months of intensively searching Scripture, Janet accepted Christ and her husband followed shortly thereafter. Their lives have been totally changed since then, and it began by observing one Christian who was not rushed like everyone else.

We need Christians in this rushed and hectic world demonstrating the peace and tranquility of Jesus Christ. How are you doing in that department?

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Why are we so rushed? As I look at myself and others, I see some very basic mistakes we make which lead us into hurried and harried lifestyles. Let's see if we can identify some of the causes of this rushed mentality.

The first one which comes to mind is that we simply try to do more than we should. We try to be super-people. Shakespeare says the great question is "To be or not to be." But I find for me more often "To do or not to do—that is the question."

Sometimes I need a Not-To-Do list to clearly remind me of what's important and what isn't. Some things on that Not-To-Do List may be good things, but at times good things have to go in favor of the best. And when we try to do too many things—even good things—we usually end up with a less-than-satisfactory performance and/or a frazzled and rushed lifestyle—or both.

What's on your To-Do list which should be on your Not-To-Do list? If you find yourself rushed all the time, it's highly likely that you need to reassess your priorities and have a cleaning day for your To Do list.

It's often rather painful to give up some of those things we've been doing. We may enjoy them, we may do them better than others can, we may find they are things that make us feel good. And it's hard to give them up, but it still may be the right thing to do.

I've had to give up positions and jobs which I really liked doing because something had to go. It was hard for me to believe in some cases that anyone else could fill my shoes, but guess what, they got along just fine without me! And in so doing, someone else picked up the ball and their gifts and talents were developed and used.

Jesus taught us this by His life. There were times when He did not go to cities where His disciples told Him He must go to speak. He would respond, "No, I have to go to another city today." He had a Not-To-Do list. One man asked Him to become a judge and settle an argument between him and his brother. And Jesus replied, in effect, "That's not my job." It was on His Not-to-Do list. Of course, He could have done it better than anyone, but He knew that He had limits and He didn't try to do everything and please everyone.

That’s a good lesson that many of us need to learn—and re-learn, I think.

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I've been talking about the RUSH and HURRY mentality that is so common to our lifestyles today, and what we can do to combat it. I'm convinced this is one area that Christians need to seriously tackle, so that we can witness through our lives that Jesus brings peace and tranquility, and gives us a centered focus which keeps us from being in rush mode all the time, with our edges frazzled and frayed.

We saw that one thing we need to do is start a Not-To-Do list. Another reason we Christians find ourselves rushed all the time with our lives running out of control is because we don't give the highest priority to eternal things. We allow earthly, temporal things and issues to occupy all our time.

That's so easy to do. After all, we can see and touch and feel those temporary earthly things all around us, and eternal things are not as easily discerned. In addition, the earthly things scream at us with deadlines and urgency, and the eternal things—the really important things—are quieter and less squeaky. So, we can put them on the back burner real easy.

How much time in your life is devoted to the Word of God and prayer? I've said it so often before, but it needs to be repeated: Until time with God and pursuing a knowledge of God is our highest priority, we will always feel as though our lives are out of control, for indeed they are. The Word of God is our touchstone, the guiding focus which can keep us on track, the calming influence which gives us peace and purpose. If you're neglecting the Word of God and prayer, don't be surprised to discover that you’re always rushed and hassled.

And may I say this? Being in Christian activities does not take the place of a personal daily time with God. I find lots of us substitute church functions and Christian activities for time with God.

Oh, how we need some Forever Eyes, focused on things of eternal value. When those eyes are really working well, it's amazing how much calm and peace enters our minds and hearts, and our lifestyles. When I face a day that's looking out of control, that quiet time in God's Word will always give me the calmness of soul which keeps me from being frantic and rushed. Without it, I'm just like everyone else, rushing and hurrying and feeling pressurized.

In the midst of your rushed, frantic day, stop and sing "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus." It will remind you that He is our peace and He brings tranquility in place of our hurry.

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I need to tell you that what you hear me talking about here on this program are frequently the areas in my life where God is dealing with me. And this is one area that is a continual battle for me, for I'm a mover and a shaker, as they say, so going and doing and rushing and hurrying are a way of life for me. But I recognize that a lifestyle that is out of control is not honoring to the Lord, and leaves no opportunity for me to be still and know that God is God.

We've been talking about things that cause us to get into this rushed life-style. Another very common problem that leads to being rushed all the time is that we postpone what has to be done so that everything is a last-minute rush job. So often our problem is not that we're really busy, but we're always late!

Do you procrastinate? It's a deadly disease, and I believe our enemy uses it very successfully against many of us to keep us in this emergency mindset far too much of the time. One way to cure this problem is to follow the slogan which says "Do it right and do it now."

Not only does procrastination cause us to be in last minute rushes all the time, but it also affects the quality of our performance. When you're always up against a deadline, you cut those corners and do things in a much sloppier fashion than you really would like to. There goes excellence right down the drain!

One way to cure procrastination is to do the things you don't want to do first and get them out of the way. Those are the ones we can postpone forever.

Ask God to give you His perspective about activity. I really do believe that our culture has infiltrated our thinking with the idea that activity is the trademark of a successful and happy person. We tend to admire people who are always busy, assuming that busyness translates into importance and significance. I'm asking God to teach me not to be impressed with my own busyness nor that of others, since activity is not a true indicator of significance.

If RUSH is your middle name, I pray you'll start to evaluate and allow God to give you His perspective and His victory over the rush mentality. It will not only make a great difference in you, but it will also greatly enhance your witness for Jesus Christ.

Mary Whelchel is founder and president of TheChristianWorkingWoman.org, This set of five talks was broadcast during the week October 11-15, 2004.