Tyranny of the Urgent

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Graeme Wilson in Victory Call

I woke up and went through my agenda in my mind. I chose to jump into my scruffy clothes, apply a coat of mascara and a swipe of blush and run out the door. If I could take care of the out of house stuff I would have the rest of the day to do the things I needed to do at home. Well, of course, I met an acquaintance at Kohl’s. Thankfully she was in her scruffy clothes, too! But we caught up on our lives and time went by. Then I stopped at the food store. Pretty painless, I just needed a few things and managed to get in and out on the express line. Then I needed a Starbucks (need or want…that’s another Victory Call). Well, things didn’t go so fast there.  I didn’t have enough cash, Dave didn’t call me back to give me his order in a timely fashion, they made my drink wrong…..whew. What was going to be a quick run was becoming a time sucker.

At home the important stuff was waiting. I had writing to do, I had to make a dish for Dave to bring to a meeting and I had to clean the house because company was coming tomorrow. Back at home, where I thought of peace and quiet, I was determined to get things done. But instead, I yielded to the phone calls, texts and emails. Did you notice something was missing? No quiet time with the Lord to start my day. Now, I am not saying days are perfect when we have our quiet times first. I am saying that today I was convicted that I was doing things backwards. It’s called the tyranny of the urgent. (The Tyranny of the Urgent is a great little booklet. Read it if you can.) We get busy without doing the most important things first. All the other voices cry out for attention and God’s voice is blocked out.

Who or what is calling out to you today? The whisper of Jesus might be a smaller, more still voice but so often we put Him on hold.  Do you hear Him? He is waiting.

Blessings,
Kathy

Kathy Withers is on staff at America’s Keswick and serves as Director of Partner Care. Kathy has been married to her husband Dave for 30 years. They have two adult children. Kathy is active in her local Church and teaches a Bible Study for women. Her passion is to encourage women to deepen their walk with Jesus Christ by finding and living out the truths of God’s Word.