The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World

by John Mark Comer

Corrie ten Boom once said that if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy. There’s truth in that. Both sin and busyness have the exact same effect—they cut off your connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul.

The point I’m driving toward is this: an overbusy, hurried life of speed is the new normal in the Western world, and it’s toxic. Psychologists tell us anxiety is often the canary in the coal mine, our souls’ way of telling us something is deeply wrong and we need to fix it, fast.

Hurry kills all that we hold dear: spirituality, health, marriage, family, thoughtful work, creativity, generosity…name your value. Hurry is a sociopathic predator loose in our society.

Regardless of our income levels, attention is our scarcest resource. Jesus wisely said our hearts will follow behind our treasures.12 Usually we interpret treasure to mean our two basic resources: time and money. But an even more precious resource is attention. Without it our spiritual lives are stillborn in the womb.

Because what you give your attention to is the person you become.

“Hurry is not just a disordered schedule. Hurry is a disordered heart.”13