The tyranny of the urgent
This needs doing and now. Mrs. Jones is on the phone and needs her pastor. The secretary informs the pastor that she has made four appointments for him today, a day he had hoped to hide in the study and prepare Sunday’s sermon. That article needs writing this morning, the mail goes out at 10 and his letters need to be in it, and that ministers’ meeting starts at 11:30.
Now. Here. You. Urgent!
Mark chapter 1 has something for us on this subject.
In the early morning while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there. And Simon and his companions hunted for Him, and they found Him, and said to Him, ‘Everyone is looking for You.’ And He said to them, ‘Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, in order that I may preach there also; for that is what I came out for’ (Mark 1:35-38).
Do not rush past this. It’s the precise lesson we need today. The Lord has spent a tiring evening healing people (1:32-34). Finally, exhausted, He went to bed, then got up early to walk in the hills and talk to the Father. When the disciples managed to run Him down, you can hear the rebuke in their words: “Lord, we have a crowd back at the house. More people for You to heal. You don’t have time for this. Come on!”
But Jesus walked away from needs—real needs, urgent needs—in order to stay with the Father’s agenda for Him. “That is what I came out for,” He said.
Do you know what you “came out for”? Your purpose, your calling.
Start with your calling, your purpose.
What if you clarified in your mind the calling of God on your life and the direction of the ministry to which He summoned you? What if you began to try to refine your ministry and lay aside the lesser things?
That would require a lot of things: time to think and reflect, prayer and prayer and more prayer, discussion with the wife and with a few significant church leaders.
–What can you turn over to other people?
–Are there others in the congregation who can take some of the jobs from you? And can you turn loose of them?
–Can you do this a little at a time so the change is not so abrupt and unnoticed by most of the congregation?
–Can you then put your focus on your strengths, on your true calling, and do them better?
–Then, once you begin to divest yourself of some of the distractions of ministry and free up some time, you will have to decide what will fill the void: time with your family; time to sit in a room quietly and think and pray and study; time to take a daily walk for your exercise.
