Isaiah 18
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Why do we Hurry. Why do we hurry the more trouble comes our way. There are few times where speed is the solution to the problems that we face. But we all know the experience the getting into a huge hurry to solve the problem in front of us. We can cause it by procrastination. In fact if you ask a procrastinator they will tell you they do their best work under with a looming deadline. Or in other words they keep their head better when they hurry.
Rushing Through Work: Many individuals rush through their work, believing that completing tasks quickly will lead to greater productivity and success. They may compromise quality for speed, which can lead to mistakes and additional problems in the long run.
Hasty Decision-Making: Some people make important life decisions in a hurry, thinking that quick choices will help them move forward faster. This can lead to regrettable decisions and unintended consequences.
Overloading Schedules: Busy schedules and overcommitment are often seen as a solution to achieving more. People fill their calendars with back-to-back activities, leaving no time for rest or relaxation, which can result in burnout and increased stress.
Instant Gratification: The desire for instant gratification can lead to impulsive behavior, like overspending or unhealthy eating habits. People may opt for quick fixes to satisfy immediate desires, which can negatively impact their long-term goals.
Procrastination Followed by Rushing: Procrastination can lead to the need to rush through tasks or projects at the last minute to meet deadlines. This can result in stress and subpar outcomes.
Constant Connectivity: The constant use of smartphones and social media can create a sense of urgency, with people feeling the need to respond immediately to messages and notifications, even when it's not necessary.
Skipping Rest and Sleep: Some individuals believe that reducing the time they spend sleeping and resting will provide more time for productivity. However, lack of adequate rest can lead to physical and mental health issues.
Marriages neg
relationsgips ignored
What is at the core of this haste...
The whole nation is pumped, stoked, and buzzing deep down in their souls. There's this universal excitement in the air. It's all about noise, commotion, and hurry.
Assyria is breathing down the neck of Israel.
They are described in Isaiah 17.12
Woe to the multitude of many people,
Which make a noise like the noise of the seas;
And to the rushing of nations,
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
They are described as the noise of the seas, rushing nations, rushing of mighty water.
Remember that Ahaz already failed in his enterprise of finding an ally at this point of the prophecy and Isaiah is announcing that because the people of God placed their hope in man that he was going to give them up.
When the enemy comes with noise you want to find someone noisier.
Who does Israel run to - Ethiopia. Whose commotion is like a thousand wings flapping
Woe to the land shadowing with wings,
Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
This way of seeing power is confirmed in chapter 13:4
The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people;
A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together:
The Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
Yet this way of panicking was the opposite of what is instructed by God to his people in Scripture. To the people that trust God he says.
And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel;
In returning and rest shall ye be saved;
In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength:
And ye would not.
But let's face it, we struggle to follow that advice. Sure, some wise folks stay cool and collected, but even they can get swept up in the hype, dragged away from their safe harbor into a turbulent sea. Most lack that calm and stability. We're jittery, restless, and easily confused. We mistake being busy for being effective, and "fussiness" for true accomplishment.
This happens because of three main weaknesses in us:
We lack patience...
We want what we want - NOW. The child is ambitious to be grown up. The student wishes for their internship, who in turn is ready to start the practice. All the while we are unable to wait. We hurry from one thing to the next. We want the pay off before the sacrifice has been made.
We lack confidence...
Isaiah (Vol. I) Chapter 18
the bulk of men are not sure of themselves; they misdoubt their powers, capacities, perseverance, steadiness, reserve fund of energy. Hence their spasmodic efforts, hurried movements, violent agitations, frantic rushings hither and thither. If they do not gain their end at once, they despair of every attaining it. They are conscious of infinite weakness in themselves, and feel that they cannot tell what a day may bring forth in the way of defeat and disappointment. They say that it is necessary to strike while the iron is hot; but their real reason for haste is that they question whether their ability to strike will not have passed away if they delay ever so little.
We lack Faith in God...
Israel plunged into a fuss over their trouble.
Oh how much we rely on hurry to solve our problems.
The church is in a hurry
The Christian is in a hurry
The Home is in a hurry
The State is in a hurry
The Nation is in a hurry
Always on the prowl for progress forgetting that in our hurry we often forget the one that makes all of our hurry Unneccesary.
We hurry past prayer
past grace
past kindness
past love
past gentleness
We hurry past family
past spouses
past eternal values.
We hurry into worry
into stress
into self reliance
And it is a sin against God
Jesus was so familiar with the call to hurry. Yet never demonstrated hurry.
see illustrations:
All of this not just to model our trust in the Father. But because he trusted in the timeless eternality of his own Godship.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Consider the very first rest.
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
All nay the only power in the universe has just been demonstrated in the speaking of all that is into existence. And God rests.
I don’t know what he considered maybe he considered all those people who would live and deny his work as Creator.
Hitchcock writing in his own character. Jesus was timelessness stepping into the mortality and from here refused to think like one who worries about time.
And then calls us to a timeless kind of life that does not prioritize hurry but will a love and worship of HIM.