LIE: I’m unavoidably too busy

Lie:      I’m unavoidably too busy.

Truth: I have the time to do all of God’s will.

What is busyness?

Busyness is a form of overcommitment. It’s like three things:

clutter – too much stuff for the space it must occupy.

debt – too many financial commitments for the amount of income.

gluttony – too much food for the gastro-intestinal system to process at one time.

We know the symptoms: hurry, lateness, frustration, confusion, weariness, worry, forgetfulness, accidents, caffeine addiction. And the answer is not time management (though it has wisdom worth exploring). Admittedly, some are more likely to experience busyness than others: executives, soccer moms, working students. But just to be clear, busyness does not equate to productivity. We are called to be productive, engaged and active. And sometimes, our time will be much in demand, but that does not mean we need to overcommit ourselves and become too busy.

That said, there may be times when we are very active and will have to say no to people. The difference is in the decision to overcommit ourselves, even for the good things. The busy life is simply unnecessary and will eventually be self-destructive.

Take Jesus for example:

So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him. . . .  But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, ‘Who touched Me?’ When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, ‘Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, “Who touched Me?” — Luke 8:40, 42–45

If anyone could make the excuse of being ‘too busy,’ it would have been Jesus. Luke’s account of Jesus wading out into the multitude, unprotected from the throngs, is festive, exciting and unpredictable. Jesus seems unhurried. As he walks serenely with his disciples he is attentive to individuals, and even when power, apparently involuntarily, issues from him, he has the presence of mind to stop and ask the question: “Who touched me?”

Shortly after this (Luke 9:10) Jesus “took the disciples aside privately into a deserted place.” Jesus stopped everything and retreated – the demands on his time did not dictate an unavoidable 365/24/7 mentality. You see this rhythm consistently in his life: he descended into the valley of needs, then retreated to the mountains to refresh in the presence of God.

Many Christians today feel trapped by their job, their debt, their stuff. Busyness is thought to be unavoidable and a necessary, nearly-perpetual state. They live reactively, flitting from crisis to crisis. And some apparently prefer this endless crisis and even wear it as a badge of honor; some are addicted to it and feed off the adrenaline rush. Some are motivated by greed, some to vainly try to prove their own self-importance; some want to escape the problems or responsibilities of marriage and family by immersing themselves in work; and some simply can’t say no because they fear man (because in turn, they don’t fear God). But whatever the underlying motive, to overcome this trap, we must see what is really driving us.

But let me state it plainly:

Whatever your role in life, you do not need to be ‘too busy!’

On the contrary we actually need to reverse the trend by building ‘margin’ into our lives. Dr Richard Swanson, a medical doctor who saw the destructive effects of busyness in his patients, in his book by the same name, Margin, defines marginlessness:

I sit in my examining room and listen. Then I report what I hear. Something is wrong. People are tired and frazzled. People are anxious and depressed. People don’t have the time to heal anymore. There is a psychic instability in our day that prevents peace from implanting itself very firmly in the human spirit. And despite the skeptics, this instability is not the same old nemesis recast in a modern role. What we have here is a brand-new disease.[1]

Margin allows us to process, to reflect, to pray. But when we move from one thing to the next without any down time, not only will we make mistakes, but we will also simply miss things, especially the Lord and the people in our lives that we should take the time to listen to and love.

James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family tweeted plainly:

Over-commitment and time pressure are the greatest destroyers of marriages and families.

In another place he explained further:

What is the biggest obstacle facing the family right now? It is over-commitment; time pressure. There is nothing that will destroy family life more insidiously than hectic schedules and busy lives, where spouses are too exhausted to communicate, too worn out to have sex, too fatigued to talk to the kids. That frantic lifestyle is just as destructive as one involving outbroken sin. If Satan can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy, and that’s just about the same thing.

You say, ‘Sorry, I can’t just “stop and smell the roses,” I’ve got too much to do.’ The truth is that you can, you must and you will eventually stop, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. Here’s a little exercise: set aside thirty minutes to get alone in a quiet spot. There, make a list of the things that others are counting on you to do or that you have simply put upon yourself: Bible study on Tuesday, groceries on Wednesday, help the widow neighbor on weekends, etc. Then take this list to the Lord and ask him about each one and see what the Spirit will say. He has the answers. He is the Good Shepherd who desires to lead you to the green pastures and still waters.

Paul said:

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. — I Corinthians 10:13

The only thing that will save us from this self-destructive over-commitment is our commitment to love God and our neighbor. And yes, when we choose to love the people that we encounter along life’s way, life soon gets messy, unpredictable and at times overwhelming. But at those times we will also understand our Lord better and find the same grace that he had – to stop and go to the mountain.

[1] Swanson, Richard A., M.D. Margin, NavPress, Colorado Springs, 1992, pg 17. Swanson recorded this observation in 1992, twenty-six years ago and before the ubiquity of smart phones.

See also: Lie: I can never do enough

See also: Lie: Rest must be earned

See also the introduction to this category: Lies attacking ‘the good life.’