Thursday, 30 July 2015

The Tyranny of the Urgent

Lately I have been thinking about my priorities... 
I stumbled upon an article by Charles E. Hummel-“Tyranny of the Urgent” and I must say I feel charged up to take an inventory of my priorities.

A few years ago I had a problem saying NO to invitations for missions. Sometimes someone would call me few hours to the mission day to ask me if I could take up the task, which I hardly said NO. I’d grab my bible, flip through the pages to get a sermon and step out for the mission. Obviously, not having done it prayerfully.  I couldn’t say NO. Almost all my weekends were fully booked and had no me/family/friends-time but worst, I had no time to sit quietly in God’s presence to wait for instructions. I remember one time a friend of mine wrote to me “You are too busy, ata God akija kuku-bless anapata ulishaenda Turkana...” Several times I had friends who told me to slow down but one friend sat me down and told me I needed to take a break and learn to say NO. That simple rebuke changed my life.
  
As I read through the Tyrant of the Urgent article, I assert that indeed there is what is important/priority and the urgent. Looking at the life of Jesus, the bible clearly states that Jesus finished the work the Father send Him to do. Really? Yes He did! What was the secret that kept Him free from the Tyranny of the Urgent? Jesus always spend quiet time in prayer, waiting for instructions from the Father. He totally depended on the Father. His mission was to do the will of the Father. He showed an amazing balance, a sense of timing and never did anything in haste or just because it seemed urgent. A classical example was when He got reports that Lazarus was sick and needed His urgent attention. Jesus didn’t stop everything else to rush to Lazarus! Actually He stayed 2 days longer. But, wasn’t that an important as well as an urgent matter? Well, according to His divine purpose, that was not so urgent from God’s point of view. The most important thing was to raise Lazarus from the dead.

It’s of paramount importance to take time to pray and wait for God’s instructions, to plan and do an inventory of your priorities. I want to be free from the Tyranny of the Urgent. You only have 24hrs in a day. Do what’s important a time and of course, learn to be reasonably flexible.

With Love,
Kachel

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