The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Part one: The Problem
Hurry (1|2)
The Great Enemy of Spiritual Life
Pages 17-23
TOGETHER read the book (END READING AT: It’s because God is love.)
then the following scriptures slowly and attentively
as you read together INDIVIDUALLY take notes in your journal on what stands out.
1 John 4:7 (NIV) Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:15-16 (NIV) If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV) 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.
GROUP DISCUSSION:
Share just one or two things that stood out to you while reading the book and/or scripture. (try to keep it brief)
TOGETHER pray for one another.
INDIVIDUALLY answer the questions in your journal - process your notes and pray.
Ortberg asks Willard “What do I need to do to become the me I want to be?” This is a loaded question with lots of emotion in it.
If someone asked you this question what would your response be? (“I don’t know” is an acceptable answer - but give it a go - there is no wrong answer)
John Mark Comer says: “Today, you’re far more likely to run into the enemy in the form of an alert on your phone while reading your Bible or a multiday Netflix binge or a full-on dopamine addiction to Instagram or a Saturday morning at the office or another soccer game on a Sunday or commitment after commitment after commitment in a life of speed.” Corrie ten Boom once said that if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy. Carl Jung had this little saying: Hurry is not of the devil; hurry is the devil.
What resonates with you about these quotes?
What challenges you about these quotes?
Followers of Jesus that are a part of the church are called “the bride of Christ”. The Song of Solomon is romantic poetry with a bride and her beloved verbalizing their love for each other. Seemingly random, they are confronted with the need to catch foxes that spoil the vines. In Song of Solomon 2:15 (NIV), the speaker says, “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.” The little foxes are a symbolic language for the destruction of the growing romance between the couple. They represent potential problems that could damage the relationship. The command for a foxhunt is to take preventative measures to protect this love from anything that could harm it.
What are the little foxes that threaten the romance between the church (the bride) and Jesus (the bridegroom)?
What are your little foxes? Or potential little foxes?
Hurry and love are incompatible.
What do you make of this statement having read the previous scriptures?
Pause and pray - invite Jesus the bridegroom to speak to you as you reflect on the following quote and journal about it.
EXTRA READING:
In sixteenth-century Spain, where women had little voice, Teresa of Avila (1515 - 1582) was a spiritual giant. She founded seventeen new Christ-centered communities, wrote four books, and challenged men and women to grow in the life of prayer. She said, “Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life, which is short and has to be lived by you alone; and that there is only one glory, which is eternal. If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.”