Chris Bailey III - When We Worry, We Hurry

Also, [that] the soul [be] without knowledge, [it is] not good; and he that hasteth with [his] feet sinneth. - Proverbs 19:2 KJV

One of the best ways to know if you are in worry-mode is if you are in a hurry!  On a subconscious level we worry way more than we could possibly imagine.  But we don't recognize the worry because we may not have the knee-knocking, nail-biting, beads of sweat worry that is associated with anxiety.  But after driving coast-to-coast many times and a few brake jobs, the LORD hit me with a powerful thought to consider.  When you are driving down the road, and you see a decreasing speed limit sign, what is your very first reaction?  If it's fear, hitting the brake, or scanning to look for police, you are probably in a hurry which means you have been in a subtle, but poisonous, state of worry.    

Worry can be like the hum of a refrigerator in your kitchen.  You know the fridge is on but over time, you just don't hear it.  The sound becomes background noise to your brain and it's as if it is off, but it's not.  While it's just humming away, it's ringing up a toll on your electric bill just like your 30-second microwave or 2-hour dishwasher.   While the toll is more gradual, it's a toll nonetheless.  Worry has this same "hum" that can go unnoticed until you are told you have hypertension.  Gray hairs start to pop up.  Or stray hairs start to fall out.  The same fade or weakening happens to our faith.  While many Christians may never outright deny God or His Christ, most do doubt.  The worry about what He's doing or not doing.  The worry about how long it's taking Him to move.  The worry of if He is going to come through.  Worry about the future we can't control and worry about the past we can't change.  All these mind thoughts become heart patterns that usually lead to a constant state of hurry. 

Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for [this] I make haste. - Job 20:2 KJV

We drive the way we are thinking!  Everything we do is a result of our thoughts.  So what is the ideal reaction to a decreasing speed limit sign?  If you are driving the speed limit beforehand, the best move is to simply come off the gas.  Slowing down through deceleration has a totally different impact on your car (and you) than braking.  Brake lights don't turn on and your passengers don't get whiplash.  If believers decelerate by trusting, rather than braking by trying.  Decelerate by waiting, rather than braking by worrying.  We will find ourselves still getting to where God wants us to be without the threat of a ticket or burned out brake pads! 

To not hurry does not mean that we don't move.  After all, how else can we follow the Good Shepherd?  But that following that is constant is robbed of the need for speed because we don't fall behind.  Like sheep, we find our selves having to hurry up when we realize we are in one place, but the Good Shepherd is in another.  By driving the speed limit, walking in step with Christ by His Spirit, there is no hurry in us because there is no hurry in Him.  The only time you see the Good Shepherd hurrying is to help us...

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me. - Psalm 40:13 KJV

[[To the chief Musician, [A Psalm] of David, to bring to remembrance.]] [Make haste], O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD. - Psalm 70:1 KJV

[[A Psalm of David.]] LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto Thee. - Psalm 141:1 KJV

The worry-to-hurry connection is just another way for us to stay in touch with where our heart is.  10 minutes driving the speed limit on highway whatever or down name-that-street, can build as much patience and peace as a 10-day retreat in the mountains.