Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Psalm 37:7
We read nearly everything John Ortberg writes.
We went to graduate school with John and have long known him to be one of the most down to earth writers on heavenly issues you’ll ever find.
In his book The Life You’ve Always Wanted, he has a chapter called “An Unhurried Life” in which he tells the story of getting some spiritual direction from a wise friend shortly after moving to Chicago.
After a quiet moment, his friend finally spoke: “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”
Another long pause.
“Okay, I’ve written that one down,” John told him, a little impatiently.
“That’s a good one. Now, what else is there?”
John had a lot to do and he was already running late for an appointment, so, as he puts it, “I was anxious to cram as many units of spiritual wisdom into the least amount of time possible.”
Another long pause on the line.
“There is nothing else,” his wise friend said. “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”
Don ‘t hurry. Don’t worry. You’re only here for a short visit. So don’t forget to stop and smell the roses. –Walter Hagen
That’s it. His spiritual mentor could have given him a laundry list of things to do that would have aligned his spirit with the Almighty. But that’s all he suggested. There’s nothing else but to eliminate hurry from your life.
Brilliantly simple, don’t you think?
So what could the two of you eliminate this very day that would eliminate hurry from your life together – so you can regain more time together?
Reflect and Respond
What’s one concrete thing you can do today that will help you recoup more time together as a couple?
Go ahead, tell us in the comments.
Related Resource
Your Time-Starved Marriage gives you tools to feed your time-starved relationship, maximizing the moments you have together and enjoying them more than you ever imagined.
As a single business woman I needed to hear this.
Thank you.
I certainly did enjoy your seminar at Mariners Church last yr. Your funny and direct. It’s good when we can laugh at ourselves.
Blessings to you and your ministry,
Carol
Just do it! Make time to spend with your spouse. We make time for what we truly want to do when it comes to everything else. If time with your spouse is truly important, you’ll make the time by sacrificing some other task. El & I have a date night night every Saturday & Wednesday. We also spend Sundays together during & after church service. We make time every evening to recap our day. We make time for each other.
Thanks for this reminder to stop & smell the roses.
Thank you for the reminder that I need to focus on today! Tomorrow is not here yet and it may never come. As I type this my husband is playing his guitar and I am blessed to have this man as my husband.
Neat little article. And I especially appreciate the reference to John Ortberg’s The Life You Always Wanted. That book, which in many ways is about putting the spiritual disciplines into practice, is a delightful read and the most practical book I’ve read on achieving spiritual health and balance. And, it all starts with slowing down. <