*Please note: This post contains affiliate links.

Sometimes I feel like I’m always in a hurry. 

Moving into the “fast lane” of traffic to get home two minutes sooner.
Working on lesson prep while I eat lunch because multitasking saves me time.
Cutting short conversations so I can check more things off my to-do list.
Fixated on all the work that gets done, and trying to figure out how to fit it into the limited hours of the day.

Hurry gets awfully exhausting after a while.

I first heard about Pastor John Mark Comer and his book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World (Amazon Affiliate Link) after listening to him talk about it on a podcast.

I highly recommend that podcast, by the way. It’s called the “Fight Hurry, End Hustle Podcast.” The co-hosts, authors John Mark Comer and Jefferson Bethke, both happened to write books on this same topic around the same time. And I enjoyed listening to them chat about resistance to hurry, the importance of the Sabbath, and the value of simplicity—so much so that I immediately tried to get their books from the library.

After months of having The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry on hold, I finally got to read it. And wow… this is the book I needed in this season of my life. 

John Mark Comer reminds us of the gift Jesus offers in Matthew 11:28-30, and what it truly means when Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

When we truly follow the lifestyle of Jesus, we embrace rhythms of prayer, simplicity, slowness, and walking in step with our Creator. 

Comer points out that Jesus had a full schedule, but he never came across as rushed or hurried. He took time with people and with God, in community and in solitude. 

My favorite part of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry is the hopeful challenge offered by its message: 

What would it look like to take our time, to slow down, to remember to breathe again and be in the present moment? What would it look like to sit in our own feelings? To come to a place of freedom where God’s voice can cut through the rest of the noise in our lives?

I’m convinced that hurry is a great enemy to our spiritual (and physical, emotional, etc.) lives. 

I want to ruthlessly eliminate it from my life, as I ruthlessly embrace the lifestyle offered by Christ.

By the way, the first thing I did after reading this book was return it to the library (because someone else had it on hold) and then order a copy for our home. This is a book I want to read and share, because it’s a reminder I know I’ll continue to need in a noisy, chaotic world.

If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it as well. And if you want a copy of your own, the link below is an affiliate link for Amazon, which helps support me in creating more posts like this one!

And never forget… you are onederfully created.

Love,
Becca