Are You Ready to Ruthlessly Eliminate Hurry? [Slow Series]
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Links Mentioned in all Episodes
- Ruthlessly Eliminate Hurry by John Mark Comer (book): https://amzn.to/3t8U5A6
EP 211 | Are You Ready for the Ruthless Elimination of Hurry? [slow down series]
Hey Winner,
We’re nearing the end of the year, and I wonder if you’re feeling the hustle culture as much as I am? It feels like no matter how hard you try, you just can’t figure out how to slow down or simplify your life. You’re going, going, going, without time to breath most days. How do we end this crazy cycle? How do we go from hurry to peaceful work? We were called to work, no doubt, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
The next weeks I’m putting out bonus mini episodes to help us focus on slowing down to really live life and listen for the Lord. I invite you to join me. I invite you to share this with a friend or 10 who may be longing for the same thing. I’ll be sharing encouragement, scripture, prayers, tips, and some challenges as we wind down the year. I hope you’ll join me.
Rooting for you ~ Gabe
Ep 213 | Hurry… the Enemy to Spiritual Growth [slow down series]
Hey Winner,
I invite you to join me on this journey of ruthlessly eliminating hurry. Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t have goals and dreams. It doesn’t mean stop everything you’re doing. It means stop being so busy that you’re always in a hurry.
Corrie Ten Boome put it near perfectly when she once said that if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.
So true, right? Think about it… when we’re too busy, we don’t have time to sit and be still. We don’t have time to help our neighbor in need. We don’t have time for deep conversations or connections. We’re just moving at lightning speed without too much intention trying to get it all done.
We could say Jesus was busy too, but he was never in a hurry. We are called to work and be fruitful for the things that matter. You may have a full schedule, but it’s when we are always in a hurry, always feeling behind, when it becomes our greatest enemy.
The first thing we need to do is recognize the hurry. Then, slowly, we can do something about it.
Rooting for you ~ Gabe
Ep 215 | Where is all our time going? [slow down series]
Hey Winner,
In 1370 in Germany the first clock tower was erected, and historians argue that that was a pivotal point that shifted our relationship with time.Before that, time was more natural. You went to bed when it was dark and got up when it was light.
Novel concept, right? Things were a bit faster in the summer and slower in the winter, and before Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, do you know how much an average person slept a night? 11 hours! Now we’re luck to sleep 7.
When we gained more time back due to technology, it was a way to busy ourselves even more because now we could get more done.
What are you doing at a red light or in line at the grocery store or while waiting to pick up your kids from school? Or even on a walk? Is it second nature to pull out your phone?
So I pose that question to you… what is all this distraction, addiction, and pace of life doing to your soul?
It’s time for a reset, my friend.
Rooting for you ~ Gabe
Ep 217 | Is Hurry Sickness a Disease? 3 Symptoms for Self-Diagnosis [slow down series]
Hey Winner,
Are you enjoying the ruthless elimination of hurry as much as I am?
Psychologists now have a label for what we’re experiencing. They call it “hurry sickness.” We have created our own disease!
The definition I relate to? From an article in Psychology today: “A malaise in which a person feels chronically short of time, and so tends to perform every task faster and to get flustered when encountering any kind of delay.”
Let’s talk about the 3 symptoms of hurry sickness and take a self-diagnosis of where we fall on the spectrum. Once we know what symptoms we have, we can do something about it.
Rooting for you ~ Gabe
Ep 219 | The Solution isn’t More Time… [slow down series]
Hey Winner,
What would you do with more time? Would you learn the guitar? Would you take more risks? Go on more adventures? Write a book? I’m sure you, like I, would find a way to fill that time (and then we’d just be longing for more). What a crazy cycle, right?
Time is not the answer.
I love how John Mark puts it. He says, “The solution to an overbuys life is not more time. It’s to slow down and simplify our lives around what really matters.”
We live in a culture that wants no limits. That wants to be their full potential plus some. And, of course, living up to your potential is a good thing, but we also have to accept our limitations. We are only human, after all.
If time isn’t the solution, then what is?
Rooting for you ~ Gabe
Ep 221 | The Secret to a Lighter Life [slow down series]
Hey Winner,
Our mistake is to think that following Jesus consists in loving our enemies, giving the second mile, turning the other cheek, suffering patiently and hopefully – while living the rest of our lives just as everyone else around us does… It’s a strategy bound to fail.
We all want the life offered in the verses of Matthew 11, but are we willing to adopt the lifestyles? Do we see it worth the cost? John Mark Comer points out that “Your life is the product of your lifestyle.”
Lifestyle = How you spend your time. How you spend your money. The rhythms of your day.
How do we get out of the crazy cycle and truly change? Truly see Matt 11 play out? We need to not only adopt Jesus’ theology and ethics, but also his lifestyle.
Let’s talk about how!
Rooting for you ~ Gabe
Ep 223 | Is Your Schedule Aligned with Your Values? [slow down series]
Hey Winner,
Do you make room for the unexpected? You know, someone stranded on the side of the road and you take the time to help them? An elderly needing help with her groceries at the store. A friend calling with bad news who needs a listening ear and time to vent.
This is something I’m feeling a tug to do. Having wiggle room in my day to think about what I could do for someone. Getting to know my neighbors better. Asking what needs they have. Dropping off some cookies at the fire department next to us to thank them for their service. Sending a card in the snail mail to a friend just because. Things like that.
This week let’s talk about aligning our schedule with our values – so we have some wiggle room to see others’ needs and help out when we can.
Rooting for you ~ Gabe
Ep 225 | What’s Mindfulness Got to Do with It? [slow down series]
Hey Winner,
Today we’re talking about SILENCE and SOLITUDE.
Do those words scare you? I mean, do you remember what it was like to be bored? Do you remember when technology wasn’t really a thing? We didn’t have it at our fingertips? We only had a few channels to watch on our TVs? We had to wait for our movie to rewind before we could watch it?
John Mark says the hurry of the digital distractions is robbing us of being present to God to other people to beauty, even to our own souls.
Mindfullness is a cutesy, worldly word for what Christians have been doing since the beginning of time. Taking time in silence. Taking time to just be. Taking time to hear from the Lord. Taking time to pray. Taking time to meditate on the scriptures. Developing a quiet time into our daily routine.
Let’s talk about it!
Rooting for you ~ Gabe
Ep 227 | Why Taking a Sabbath Rest Matters to Your Productivity and Your Soul [slow down series]
Hey Winner,
Today is all about the Sabbath rest.
You may go, well that’s an old testament regulation. We’re in new testament times, I’m not into being legalistic…
What if I told you that the Sabbath day is a gift from God? It’s not really a regulation, more of a promise. Now, it is in the 10 commandments… and those are actually still good to follow. But it really is a promise. A promise of rest for our physical bodies and our souls. God rested on the seventh day of creation to model for us what the Sabbath looks like.
Let’s talk about it.
Rooting for you ~ Gabe
Ep 228 | Living a Life of Simplicity with Impact [slow down series]
Hey Winner,
Today is all about simplicity… the less we have in our schedule the more time we have for the simple things. The less stuff we have the less decisions we need to make or things we have to take care of or house that we have to clean. Simple living is about finding joy in the things that we do have but not just getting to get.
It’s not just about STUFF though. It’s about our time & schedule. It’s about distractions of the mind. It’s about clearing space in all areas so we can live in a way that is unhurried, allowing God to direct our steps. To really direct our steps.
Let’s talk about it!
Rooting for you ~ Gabe
Ep 229 | Setting Rules and Boundaries that Will Encourage You to Slow Down [slow down series]
Hey Winner,
It’s time to wrap up this slow down series, but I hope that it’s encouarged you to look at ways for you to eliminate hurry from your own life. Here’s a quote I loved from the book. John Mark said, “Our time is our life and our attention is the doorway to our hearts.”
Think about it for a little bit. Our time is our life… everything we choose to do takes time and is a piece of our life, right? And then our attention… what we choose to give our attention to is the doorway to our hearts. What we focus on we will begin to believe. What we dwell on we’ll begin to want or need. Our attention, what we give our attention to, matters. What a powerful quote, right?
So in the chapter of slowing, John Mark shares a list of rules he’s living by, not to be ritualistic, but to continue practicing unhurry in his own life. I really took to some of them.
Let’s talk about it!
Rooting for you ~ Gabe
Step into the fire and come out stronger!
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