The Tyranny of the Urgent

As I write this I have successfully made it back home to Seminole. I got home in time last night to watch Taylor play basketball, get up early for Men’s Fraternity this morning, preach at the care center, make some visits, lead a meeting, and make a bunch of decisions. The tyranny of the urgent is all around me.

It was not until later in the afternoon when I pulled away from all the urgency and demands on my schedule to the prayer room to steal some quiet moments with the Lord. I often find myself so busy dealing with urgent matters that I feel boxed in. For the most part this whole day was spent in administration. There is so much to plan, calendar, and to do to keep things running smoothly.

This is a far cry from how I was able to spend so much time walking with God over this past weekend. The challenge for all of us is to fight the tyranny of the urgent so we are not distracted in our pursuits of knowing God. To pursue God requires time and lots of it. We must put forth the effort to carve out time in the midst of learning new computer programs, responding to phone calls and emails, planning and organizing events as well as attending meetings that are all necessary but they also serve to distract our souls from growing in the Lord.

It is so very important that we make time to seclude ourselves from others and to push the tyranny of the urgent aside to sit and linger with the Lord. In those moments we are not wasting time. The truth is that today I began asking God for wisdom about all the various things going on in our church. Our souls wither when we do not wait on the Lord. Soon we find ourselves doing all the right things with the wrong motives. When we get to this point, rest assured we will not produce lasting fruit. [Jn 15:5] We must abide in Him.

I sat at my desk today with mounds of papers, phone messages, and decisions that demand my attention. I have to confront these things. I cannot live in an ivory tower of my books and prayer closet. There are real people living in a real world and I must minister there. That does not mean however that I do these things at the peril of my own spiritual health. That is where my regular time with the Lord reading and feeding on scripture accompanied with offering fervent supplications give my soul the fuel it needs to tame the tyranny of the urgent.

It is a battle most every day. Other things compete for my affections, attention, and my time. The bed hugs me tighter and tighter in the early mornings and the midnight oil burns later than I care for many times. Still, my soul cannot be consumed with the tyranny of the urgent but must be resolute about doing whatever is necessary to walk authentically with the Lord. This is the urgent need of our every day.