A Hurried Heart

"Hurry is a devious enemy." I read these words on a church sign as I drove by a while back. Told myself to remember them. Yeah, right.

By the time I got to my own church--a few miles away at the most--the only word of that five-word sentence that I could recall was the word hurry.

Should have known better than to rely on my short-term memory skills.

And I hear you laughing, sweet girl. Guess I deserve that one.

Are you wondering why I didn't just pull the car over to the side of the street and copy this meaningful little maxim on a scrap of paper while the sign was right in front of me?

Was there room on the street to pull over? Yes.

Was traffic a problem? No.

So, what happened? All right, I'll tell you why I didn't stop.

I was in a hurry.

Had a bad hair day. Clothes didn't look right. Had to change into a different outfit. Still not better. I was running way behind schedule.

Please tell me you've been there too. Hurrying to work or rushing around on a Sunday morning or sometime.

Just make me feel better, ok?

Well, later that week when I wasn't in such a big hurry, I went back and copied the quotation.

Now, I do admit to having a bit of a problem with that devious devil.

Like, I'm thinking I have a hurried heart at times when it comes to my relationship with God. Not a good thing, I know.

A girl with a hurried heart is hard of hearing. All she has time to listen to is the sound of her own voice. Not God's.

A girl with a hurried heart holds on to the wrong things. She seizes whatever looks good to her at the moment. She doesn't acknowledge that His desire is to hold her in the palm of His nail-scarred hands.

A girl with a hurried heart hesitates to ask for the impossible. She becomes increasingly self-reliant, but her strength isn't enough. She still can't do what only God can do.

I don't want to have that kind of heart anymore.

I want to hear Him. Want Him to hold me. I want to believe that He will do the impossible.

For it is with your heart that you believe...(Romans 10:10).

And I believe.

So I've asked Him to do a transplant. To take my hurried heart and give me a hungry heart. A heart that hungers for more of Him. His word. His will. A heart that believes that He can do anything.

No more hurry.

Just some time with our Savior. Slow. And sweet.