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Writer's pictureJaci Mun-Gavin

Unhurried | Crazy Busy

There is a blog series brewing on The Unhurried Life but, ironically, there’s no time to write it. The lives I see around me are spinning wildly (out of control?) and if I’m not spinning, too, am I being left behind? ‘Cause there’s so much to do and so much depends on me and how do I know if I’m not actually spinning to keep the world spinning and heaven forbid I stop. And I know I should find the time to write but how can I write when I’m still afraid of what they will think of me? And how can I not, when I’m more afraid of ignoring what He says to me?



Voices clamour for my attention and some of them I know and love and some of them I’ve never met and so many of them are just in my head. My life is ripe for the curse of busyness, and it is a curse, and if I slow down long enough to look for the root of it, it’s buried deep in the self-same place as every sin - it’s rooted in self-crowned pride. That’s right. Because the voices I hear in my head say it’s all up to me, and how can I stop when everyone depends on me, everything rests on me; and every second I assume control, I assume the throne of the One who commanded rest.


Busyness is the thief that chokes the life out of our hearts. Without time for deep joy, we settle for cheap joy. Like a cheap perfume, it distracts from the stench; with a magician’s sleight of hand, busyness masks the rot in our souls.


Is my work busywork?


I’ve been brave enough to stop before and to let all busyness fall to the ground and to stand unclothed before the Great Physician, the Commander of Rest. I know that any rot in my soul is the result of unsanctified pain, caused by my sin, yes, but also sometimes the sin of others. He can heal it and He will and He does, but first, we must stop and unwrap our souls from the shroud of busyness and wash off the sickly scent of cheap distractions.


God, I need to know your command around my writing. Is it work that you have for me?


Our busyness is underpinned and vitalised by pride. If work starts with me as the solution, it is a curse. All good work is God’s work, and I am his chosen and created partner. Pride takes work that was supposed to be a blessing of partnership and makes it a curse of self-created and crushing responsibility. What’s the difference between people-pleasing, pride-rooted work and productive service to others? It lies in the answer to this question:

Does my work do good or make me look good?


When I work to look good, I am working to keep my unauthorised grip on a throne that was never built for me. My work is dead and, in me and through me, it produces death. When I work to do good, I am free to walk in the very footprints authorised for me before time began. I am free to walk forward on an earth kept spinning by the Author of creation.


And I write. I am not self-authorised and I am not others-approved. My work is not people-pleasing or pride-rooted but it is Author-originated and as such life flows in me and through me as I do it. And yes, heaven forbid I stop.

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3 Comments


rosarmour
Jun 05

Wow this was such food for thought. Thank you for being so honest in sharing your insights. Sometimes we feel guilty that we are not stressfully busy - again it boils down to priorities and motives. Love your writing. Thank you.

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anita.tappin
May 30

Reality check. Thank you for writing. So blessed to have the opportunity to receive the gift of reading your art of words. So incredibly true and hits home.

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owenmattew883
May 29

nice

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