Being Unhurried: Living with the Long View

The Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit (CAFO) was INCREDIBLE!!! It was a global gathering of church and nonprofit leaders, foster and adoptive parents, child welfare professionals and anyone who cares about vulnerable kids. The Summit included famed worship leaders and speakers like Katie Davis Majors (Author of Daring to Hope), Shane & Shane (who were AMAZING—they made me dance and cry during worship), and many inspiring pastors. And this year, the theme was Being Unhurried: Living with the Long View.

Have you ever felt like there is not enough time in the day to check off everything on your to-list?

If you’re a Christian like myself, have you prayed the prayer, “LORD, HELP!!! I have way too many things to do with too little hours in the day to get them all done. Help me to prioritize the priorities…”

See, I am an A-type person—I am seriously organized, hard-working, resilient, and occasionally have OCD tendencies.  I have a huge heart to help people with practically anything. As I start my day, I use my bright highlighter to start my “Today To-List”. In the beginning, I start off with five things to check off, but as the day goes and I avail myself to help those in need or attend to something important. Eventually, I end up with more than ten things to do which I never get to finish because “I got busy.”

Now, I have been known to say numerous times that life in America is Sooo Fast compared to living in Zimbabwe. Days move like they are on fast-forward, one moment you wake up, and the next it’s goodnight. I have often felt like if I do not plan my day and simply go with the flow, I won’t get much done.

BUT…

Jedd Medefind, president of CAFO, said that “All that is good in life is corroded by hurry.” This caught me off guard and even more when he said, “Hurry is the state of the heart…it can never be in one place for a long time…Hurry dissolves all that is good.”

Now, hold on a minute. WHAT??? My mother had a word she used to get my sister and I to move quickly in the morning when we would get ready for school and now, I use it all the time, “Chimbi-Chimbi.” Shortened from the Shona verb “Kuchimbidza”, saying “Chimbi-Chimbi” means stop moving like a sloth and run like The Flash.

But now, sitting in my chair, I found myself challenged by Mr. Medefind who was saying that part of the reason we live in hurry is because we are running from something. And, to deal with hurriedness, we must examine our hearts and question what drives it. Is it the Spirit of Self-Importance – feeling like you are indispensable, thinking that you are the only one who can do that task in the way it should be done? Is it the Spirit of Greed – grasping form more than what God has already given you? Or, is it driven by false-identity – thinking you are going to find your self-worth in the things you accomplish?

As I reflect, I find myself asking the LORD to help me slow down and figure out why on earth I always feel like I have too many things to do with too little time. I find myself challenged to come out of unimportant busyness and devote my time to things that matter and who determines what matter isn’t me, or someone else, it’s God, the Father!

Jedd said that if we do not prune the secondary things to devote more time to things God has led us to, we will inevitably produce bitter fruit.

So, to drive-out our hurriedness, Mr. Medefind gave us three recommendations:

1.     Soak yourself in the presence of the Goodness of God: This is only done by carving out intentional time to sit with The Father and allowing His Spirit to work in and through you. Jedd noted that when we memorize scripture it is like water a parched land and the water (The Spirit) sips down to the depths and bubbles out in the most unexpected times. In challenging times, the Word of God becomes our armor, guarding our hearts from the things of the world and holds our lives intact.

2.     Be utterly present with the people in need: This includes paying 100% focus to the task at hand or the people you are helping. You cannot be doubleminded and split between two places (your body being in one place but your mind being elsewhere) if you plan on excelling at what you do, but we must drive our full attention to the people in need.

3.     Prioritize the practice of Sabbath: When God was creating the heavens and earth, he worked for six days and said “It is good.” Then…HE RESTED. Jedd said that we must enter Sabbath as if all your work is done. Sabbath is not a day to check things off the list. It is a day of joy, of rest, of devotion to the LORD, and we must honor that day to rid ourselves of the spirit of hurriedness.

So, as I pray for the LORD to guide me through what it looks like to live a life with the long view, I pray that I understand the mission at hand—the purpose and calling upon my life. I pray that the things that I do and my work profession do not define who I am, but my Creator does. I pray that wherever I am, I am ALL there and that in my day-to-day life, I make people feel that there is nothing else that matters in the world at that moment than my time with them. Father, I pray for the strength and wisdom to prune what steals from my time, in Jesus’ name, AMEN.

• Written by Vongai Chokuda, Development and Communications Coordinator