Volume 45   Number 4                                                                                    December 2002

"How are you doing?"

" Oh fine; we're busy, busy, busy! Got PTA tonight, soccer practice tomorrow, kids' piano lessons Thursday, craft shows, ball games, the kids are coming for the weekend, etc, etc, etc.."

Later in life a long awaited retirement with pension, social security, and comfort is suddenly interrupted and short-lived as idleness sends one back to the workforce, not so much because of financial need, but rather because of "activity" need. The joy of being busy enveloping us from cradle to grave.

There was a time in my life when such exchanges and events would have made me feel good, almost envious of the participants. A busy and full life is a blessing, isn't it?

But I no longer see it as I probably once did. Rather than feel happy for the one who is "busy, busy, busy", I now find myself with a cringe, an uneasiness, a questioning of its virtue. This article is an attempt to explain that reaction.

One of the most insightful and informative metaphors that scripture uses is of Christ as the Bridegroom and the Church, or His children, as His Bride. And one of the keys to a good marriage relationship is that the Bride and Bridegroom have and devote time for each other. Time to serve and time to love the one we've committed ourselves to. Who of us would have married our present mate if they had consistently presented themselves during the courtship as TOO BUSY for us?

The answer seems to ring rhetorical: NONE. And yet we find ourselves, oh so often, in just such a position spiritually. And the cause of this difficulty lies not in our need to be busy, but in our misconception that "busyness" is a virtue. Our accepting of the world's standard that our value comes from activity; therefore, the more activity the more value. It is true that God's people are to be industrious and workers. Many scriptures (Proverbs 18:9; Ephesians 5:16; 2 Thessalonians 3:10 ) exhort us to guard against slothfulness, laziness, the disuse of our time and to steadfastly work for our bread. But the virtue of our activities comes not from the "busyness" they induce, but rather from the object or focus of our "busyness".

Our society and Satan himself has indoctrinated us with the false conclusion that to be "busy" is virtuous and, therefore, to be less busy is less virtuous. We therefore cram our lives full of busyness, seeming perpetual motion, thinking it is virtuous, noble and admirable. And if we're not terribly busy, we convince ourselves we are, or at least try to appear that way to others. Everybody says they're busy whether they are or not. We are driven by peer pressure or an internal guilt to be busy. But the virtue of busyness comes from its focus or object, not from activity itself.

We find many times when Christ, either alone or with a small group, would go away to be alone and refreshed. Giving time to prayer, study, quietness and reflection. Disciplines that are often foreign and elusive to our "busy" schedules. And before we realize it, the "Rush of Life" overtakes the "Hush of Holiness" and the bridegroom finds the bride too busy for intimacy.

Scripture is also replete with example after example where men of God did some of their most lasting work during times in which God forced them into a break from the "rush of life". Moses' maturing in the solitude of the hills of Midian, David writing his psalms on the tranquil hillsides of Israel, Ezekiel and Daniel's godly and prophetic work during the captivity, Paul writing epistle after epistle while slowed down by the walls of prison. Could there be a lesson in all this for us? What might it be?

God's people are to be a busy people; however, it is to be with busyness that has eternal value, lasting significance and Kingdom focus. With the abundant blessing of leisure time whether it's in the form of shorter workweeks or secular retirement comes great opportunity and responsibility. These times are not for us to try to make heaven on earth, but to serve heaven on earth.

Many of the great lessons God has for us are not learned because of busyness. God's greatest works for us are not achieved in non-Kingdom busyness, but rather in kingdom busyness. Time makes us choose. Because time keeps us from doing it all, even when the activities are good. The choices many of us have to make with our activities are not between good and bad as much as between good and better: between eternal and temporal: between Kingdom and non-Kingdom.

Every new "Yes" negates a previous "Yes", turning it into a "No" because of the march of time. One of heaven's great joys will be the removal of "time". Removing the need to choose because eternity allows us time to do everything. But while we are still on earth, bound by time, choice is an inescapable requirement. Too often those choices reflect a belief that earth is a playground rather than a battleground: that busyness in and of itself is a virtue. But busyness is only a virtue when the object of the busyness is God and Godly principles.