The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Part one: The Problem
Something is Deeply Wrong (2|2)
Pages 52-57
TOGETHER read the book then the following scriptures slowly and attentively, focus on the difference between wisdom and hurry as you read together INDIVIDUALLY take notes in your journal on what stands out.
Proverbs 4:6-7 (NIV) Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
Matthew 6:21-23 (NIV) “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
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.
Hurry kills relationships. Love takes time; hurry doesn’t have it. It kills joy, gratitude, appreciation; people in a rush don’t have time to enter the goodness of the moment. It kills wisdom; wisdom is born in the quiet, the slow. Hurry kills all that we hold dear: spirituality, health, marriage, family, thoughtful work, creativity, generosity . . . name your value. Hurry is a sociopathic predator loose in our society.
What is your reaction to that statement?
In what areas in your life have you felt hurry strangling to death?
What is a value you fear most that hurry might be targeting?
What you give your attention to is the person you become. The mind is the portal to the soul, and what you fill your mind with will shape the trajectory of your character. In the end, your life is no more than the sum of what you gave your attention to, for better or worse.
What has captured your attention in this current season of life?
In honest self-reflection - what have you given your attention to that is not beneficial?
What are some value goals you what to strive towards?
There is only so much capacity in life. What are you willing to stop giving attention to so that you can start to focus your attention on life-giving values? (think practical).
Try to memorize Matthew 6:21-23 (above).
Pause and pray - Ask God to reveal to you what your treasure is and what your eyes are seeking. Ask God to give you healthy eyes full of light!
EXTRA READING:
“We discovered that faith is not expecting that the Lord will miraculously give us whatever we ask, or feeling the security that we will not be killed and that everything will turn out as we want. We learned that faith is putting ourselves in His hands. whatever happens, good or bad. He will help us somehow.”
- Felipe & Mary Barreda (martyred in 1983)
Missionaries in Honduras - executed by Contra rebels for not denouncing their faith.