Resources/Articles
Outlining Seven Hurried Families
Drag racers race cars down a ¼-mile track at speeds over 200 m.p.h. in less than five seconds. Drivers shift gears so fast, you cannot tell when they do it. All you witness is the increased speed of the car.
Over the past 20 years, you can look back and “watch” the speed at which you have lived your life. Families shift from second gear into overdrive without noticing it, but others witness the speed of their lives. You notice the “speed” of their lives when they start “running” in and out of worship services or they park in the fire zone at Walmart to return a video to the $1 Redbox machine.
There are at least seven marks which outline a hurried family. All of which, whether separately or combined, kill the faith, joy, and love needed for a family to stay calm and connected. Look through the windows of these homes. Do not be surprised if you catch a glimpse of your own family:
- The Baileys: Can’t relax. Their claim is, “We’re so busy.”
- The Grahams: Can’t enjoy quiet. An iPod in the ear or TV is on for background effects, or they are on the phone.
- The Joneses: Never satisfied. They are never content with what they have, where they are, or who they are.
- The Hoovers: An absence of absolutes. They only thing certain is that they are uncertain.
- The Smiths: Suffering servants. They hurt all the time. They need to hear compliments to know they are accepted.
- The Newberrys: A storm beneath the calm. They are negative, worrisome, afraid, and chew on the past.
- The Evanses: World-class overachievers. They do not know how to lose. They are only happy when they win.
Would visiting your house be like visiting any of the above houses? No one needs the world to create a hurried family for you. You can do it on your own. You make your own “overload.”
We must understand that being hurried is the result of making shortcuts in life. Satan refuses to let you rest. He will create a restlessness which will remove you from all the necessary things.
God is the only One who provides rest to a family running in the rat race. “Except Jehovah build the house, they labor in vain that build it” (Psalm 127:1).
