The Screeching Cry of Urgency
September 10, 2017
Urgency - There is a lot to be said, that has been said about the power of urgency to motivate, expiate, and eliminate. In fact, sometimes, it is necessary ....
.. but it is a poor substitute for sustained action.
And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. (Exodus 12:33)
Immature people act upon urges and are, thus, moved by a spirit of urgency. It is the inner prompting of the flesh to act in haste or panic. Like the Egyptians, we are tempted to react in horror to the manifestations of God’s power rather than respond in faith and obedience.
Urgency is a poor substitute for priority. When we establish an understanding of what is truly important based upon God’s abiding principles and mission, we need to stick with it. The reality is that the moment we prioritize our ministries, diversions will emerge, distractions will appear, and urgency will shout in our ears, “Stop and take care of me NOW!”
We need to be able to say “no” to urgency any time it steps outside the boundaries of our priorities. Yes, there will be emergencies that must be faced as they arise. There will be extraneous details that must be handled. The problem arises when every urgent matter presents itself with the same emergency motif and ministry life becomes one great series of emergencies. We have fire departments to put out fires.
What is your focus? Make sure it receives a prominent place on your calendar and that you do your best to follow your calendar. Leave time for incidentals. Leave cushion for emergencies. Live by grace because you won’t meet all of your goals. But, know this, if you heed every urgent cry, you will meet none of them because your life will be controlled by something far less than your God-given priorities. Let us live lives that are driven by God’s purposes through us. Let us patiently and with great determination, allow everything else to fall away.
do need to balance what I have said with this lest you misunderstand me: