Several years ago I was introduced to the idea of the tyranny of the urgent. The idea has fostered books, conferences, and a host of psychology classes. The tyranny of the urgent. Simply put, what is deemed urgent usually takes precedent over what is truly important. In her recent blog post, Rachel Macy Stafford beautifully described her struggle to be patient with her carefree daughter. Before I finished reading the first few paragraphs, there was little doubt that my struggle with impatience could manifest itself in a similar way with my children.What a tragedy that things which carry very little importance can trump others which are far more valuable! We live in a world where most things are rushed. Before we realize it, the important things have been neglected in our attempt to satisfy the urgent things. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Sadly, as I sit and reflect today, this thought seems to slap me in the face.

I accompanied the ACS Bible Quiz team to a tournament in Indiana this past Thursday. As soon as the tournament ended Saturday evening, I rushed toward Rochester, NY where Emily’s oldest sister would be married Sunday. Sunday morning started with us rushing to a park where the wedding pictures were to be taken before the ceremony. Pictures taken, we grabbed a piece of pizza from a local diner before rushing to the church. Next, following the ceremony, it was back to the park for the reception. After shaking what felt like 1,000 hands, hugging 100 necks, and repeating my feelings on being a new dad, it was back to the parent-in-law’s house to get a few hours of sleep before Monday’s 6 AM flight. You getting the picture? Hurry Hurry Hurry!

Since Emily had planned to spend a couple of week in NY with her family, I’d be flying to Georgia alone.

Things got a bit interesting Monday morning.

When I’m forced to trust my cell phone’s alarm to wake me after only getting a few hours of sleep, I strategically place the phone across the room so that I must get out of bed to cut it off. What might seem like a silly habit serves to keep me from missing important (or should I say “urgent”) things such as flights. I placed the phone on a window sill a good ways from our bed. One problem: When the alarm sounded at 3:30, Emily got up and turned it off. She recounts this story by adding that I supposedly sat up and acknowledged she was turning it off. I have no memory of that. My first memory from that morning is waking up 2 hours later, which was 40 minutes before my flight was scheduled to leave. A quick call to Southwest revealed a wonderful policy in which Southwest will put you on the next available flight at no additional charge provided you arrive to the airport within 2 hours of your original flight.

Here we go. Hurry Hurry Hurry! I start gathering my belongings and loading the car. Emily feeds Micah. We’re off to the Buffalo airport. Without detailing every moment, suffice it to say I was frazzled.  Once we arrived to the airport, Southwest informed me they could get me on a flight leaving in 40 minutes but I would have to hurry to get through security. I rushed back outside to the departure unloading area where Emily was waiting in the car to tell her goodbye. When she slowly (well slowly by my standards) moped out of the car to tell me goodbye, I fussed at her to hurry: “I cannot miss another flight!!!” I quickly hugged and kissed her goodbye and ran through the airport. Once through security, it hit me that I would be spending the next two weeks without her and our baby. Obviously I had known that all along, but in the moment something much more urgent was happening. Immediately, I regretted that I didn’t take just a few more moments in telling her goodbye. I arrived to my gate just in time to hear the announcement: “Flight 442 with nonstop service to Baltimore has been delayed. Currently, we expect to be delayed about 40 minutes.” I called Emily and apologized. It was obvious she was disappointed that our goodbye was stale, frustrated, and rushed. I had hurried to a flight that was already delayed.

After another delay in Baltimore, I finally arrived in Atlanta and ultimately at home in Commerce by Monday evening. I thought: “Phew, I’m glad to be back to the normal routine. Though normal for me this year does mean rushed, it’s much better than the past 5 days.”

I woke up this morning quite excited to get back in my routine. Before that routine even began, a voice mail from my mother alerted me that my grandmother had passed away early this morning. “Granny Moon” had lived 90+ years and was quite ready to trade in her frail body for a glimpse of Jesus this morning. We’re not sad that she left but rather pondering how much she will be missed. In fact, I’m searching for the right words to say as I’ve been asked to preach at her funeral Thursday.

Hurry. Hurry. Hurry.

Hectic might prove to be an appropriate adjective for these couple of weeks. And frankly, I have no promise that it will ever return to “normal.” There’s likely many of you who feel you misplaced “normal” and “peaceful” years ago and haven’t found them since. When God’s Word said “Be still and know that I am God,” it surely must have been spoken with us in mind. Perhaps the statement is a command to stop what you are doing, to step outside what is hectic, and to meditate on the sovereignty of God. Perhaps the statement is simply a reminder that Jehovah is God and that such a reminder brings stillness and peace. This platform has allowed you to peak into my life. Yet I have no idea what issues of life you are facing. What I do know…the truth to which I cling… is that Jesus is Lord and God is still in control. It would do us all a lot of good to pause and declare that He is God and to rest in knowing He is in control!