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America Runs on Dunkin'

We all seem to be in a rush. We wake up in the morning with this angst in our gut and a deep feeling of being overwhelmed. And we turn in our bed, grab the phone off the bed stand and immediately start perusing - whether it’s our email to see who reached out to us, our check-list to see what needs to be done, our social media to see how we can numb the unease that we feel in our heart and soul. And this feeling is across the board; whether you’re a ministry-worker, a CEO, a blue collar construction worker, or a stay at home mom, there seems to be too much in the day to do and accomplish on a regular basis.

Ask somebody in your personal life how they’re doing and they’ll probably respond with, “good, just busy.”

This statement is almost like a badge of honor we wear; an heir of importance we assume as we step into our relationships with one another. But we as a society have wrongfully correlated busyness with importance. And so we drive our Suburban over to the local coffee shop and take our first hit of the oh so necessary drug called caffeine. I mean, Dunkin’ isn’t wrong in their slogan - America DOES run on sugar and caffeine. It’s the only thing we can do to get through our day. But we rarely slow down to consider what this pervasive sense of rushing and caffeinating is doing to our souls. John Mark Comer in his aptly titled, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry states that hurry is a, “form of violence to our souls”. He goes on to describe a conversation that he has with his spiritual mentor John Ortberg. Over the phone, Comer asks Ortberg the simple question of, “what do I need to do to become the me I want to be?”. Comer writes that there is a long silence and then, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry…hurry is the great spiritual enemy of spiritual life in our day.” What a wildly powerful statement. And also a very accurate commentary of an issue that is plaguing our society.

Too many of us are on the verge of burnout. And the salve that we seem to be applying to that burn is more caffeine and more doing. But that’s not the life that Christ compels us to live. Hebrews 12:1-2 states that we’re to live lives of endurance; laying aside any burden that is preventing us from doing that, while looking at Jesus as the standard and finish line for our life.

So as you step into the remainder of this week, consider what aspects of your life are preventing you from running with endurance. How can you “ruthlessly eliminate” those elements so you can wake up in the morning avoidant of angst and prevalent with anticipation of what’s to come.