Addicted to Busy: Recovery for the Rushed Soul

by Brady Boyd

Ultimately, every problem I see in every person I know is a problem of moving too fast for too long in too many aspects of life.

Speed is the single greatest threat to a healthy life, and it is also our greatest defense.

With my phone handy, I never have to think. It tells me what to think. I don’t even have to wonder what to think about, because it tells me all the time.

Recently I heard a pastor in Maryland talking about the difference between amusement and rest. We tend to do one better than the other, and the one we do well is not rest.

The more rested you are, the less you are driven by what others think of you. The more rested you are, the more you are driven by what God, alone, believes to be true. This is a magnificent place to be, because Scripture is clear that God’s thoughts toward us are good.

In Jewish tradition, there is a name for this: “Shabbat shalom”—literally, “may your day of no work be peaceful.”

Because God is not only the inventor of peace but also himself Peace, another way of saying it is, “May God be in your rest, and may you be in the rest of God.” A day of rest is a day to know peace, to experience and express the peace of God.

New Zealand Prayer Book: “What has been done has been done; what has not been done has not been done; let it be.”

Rhythmic—that’s how Jesus lived. It’s how we’re invited to live too. We’re invited to work hard and retreat frequently and trust that whatever falls through the cracks while we’re retreating will get tackled during our next working-hard time. The universe really will keep spinning, as I’ve promised you. Even in our absence, it goes around.

Say the words aloud if that helps you: “I. Choose. Peace.” But whatever you do, make peace your choice.

Author Constance Rhodes reminds us: Jesus is the great I AM. He is not the great I DO or the great I WILL.

when Jesus came up out of the waters of baptism at the beginning of his public ministry, God noted that this man was his Son, in whom, not by whom, he was well pleased.

Be free. Focus on enjoying your rest.

Rest had yielded good returns.

My friend John Eldredge likes to say, “Caring for your heart is the first blow against the Enemy’s schemes,”

In hindsight, I recognize that living by healthy rhythms requires a ruthlessness many people aren’t willing to let play out.

A conclusion, among several, was this: “Ethics become a luxury as the speed of our daily lives increases.”5 In other words, we don’t have time to be do-gooders, when doing good will take too much of our time.