“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
I recently came across this excellent podcast by Jefferson Bethke and John Mark Comer: Fight Hustle, End Hurry. Both guys wrote books on the subject. Comer tells the story of his book title, coming from a phone call John Ortberg had with his spiritual mentor, Dallas Willard. Willard was coaching the young John Ortberg in his rise to prominence at a mega church and the younger man asked what steps he should take to deepen his spiritual life and strengthen his leadership. Willard reflected for a moment then said, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” Comer was a rising mega church pastor who, like Ortberg, found himself caught up in the relentless “hustle” of church business. He left that several years ago and has become a voice for sabbath and solitude, for slowness and quiet.
As we move toward Good Friday and Easter, it’s a time for all of us to reflect and slow down. This year in addition to our annual Journey to the Cross for kids (Sat., 3/23, 10 am – noon), we are offering 45 minutes of self-guided prayer at prepared stations from 6:00-6:45 p.m. on Good Friday (before our 7 p.m. service). Obviously we can all do more than just those two dedicated times reflecting on the suffering of our Savior.
How else can you fight hustle and hurry to create some space in your schedule to find rest in the Lord Jesus?