By Ife J. Ibitayo
It’s downright amazing how much time Jesus spent hanging out with people. Many of Jesus’ best teachings took place on comfy dining couches with 1st century AD comfort food. He was a man on a mission, relentlessly marching toward the cross. Yet somehow, He found an abundance of time to sit down and chat with others along the way.
For the past couple months, I’ve also been seized by a mission. I’ve been plugging away at work each day and typing up a storm each night. I’ve been cramming ministry into the free spaces and filling up every last crevice with errands and unanswered emails. It would be an understatement to say that I’ve felt a little busy. But I’ve come to see unique dangers in my present situation.
Importance of Rest
The first danger of busyness is that it often comes at the expense of rest. As we go to bed later, wake up earlier, cut our lunch breaks shorter, and extend our workdays longer, we squeeze out the Sabbath rest God offers us.
I’d contend that the fourth commandment may very well be the most despised of them all. In university, we applaud the students who sustain themselves on a well-balanced diet of coffee and Adderall, cramming in hour after hour studying for their examinations. On the job, we reward our employees who forgo vacations, sick days, and holidays to finish one more task. This disease has even infected the church! We praise pastors who are perpetually stretched thin, caring beyond their capacity, serving beyond their ability.
But consider that God rested on the Sabbath (Genesis 2:2), even though He didn’t need it. Then He blessed the Sabbath (Genesis 2:3a). Then He declared it holy—set apart, special (Genesis 2:3b). And throughout the Old Testament, God continually rebuked His people specifically for not keeping the Sabbath (Isaiah 58:13, Ezekiel 20:12-13, Nehemiah 13:15-18). Clearly rest is an extremely important concept to God, and people who are perpetually busy will struggle to find time to rest.
Importance of Relationships
Secondly, busy people will find it challenging to enter into deep relationship with others, especially God. Many people are familiar with the story of Mary and Martha. The God man in the flesh had come over for dinner. But the sisters’ attitudes toward Him were polar opposites. The NIRV says, “Mary sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. But Martha was busy with all the things that had to be done” (Luke 10:39-40).
I really like this translation because it captures well the tension of Martha’s situation. There were many important things that “had to be done”: cooking, cleaning, serving. Often times when we read this passage, we can dismiss the meaningfulness of Martha’s tasks, but they were quite important. If no one cooked, no one ate. Imagine letting God go hungry! But there was “one thing” more important than serving God, and that was listening to Him (Luke 10:41-42).
Take a look at Matthew 7:21-23, and you’ll see a similar story. There are many who will serve God mightily—prophesying in His name, casting out demons, healing diseases, and working miracles, but Jesus will turn them away at the gate to heaven. Why? Because they were too busy “serving” Him to get to know Him.
The Altar of Busyness
God created us to work. Genesis 2:15 says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” And God didn’t just create us to work, He created us to work hard (Ecclesiastes 9:10) and to work excellently (Colossians 3:23). But we must not sacrifice rest or our relationships on the altar of busyness.
“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.'”
(Matthew 11:28-30)