The balance between intimacy and urgency
Intimacy cannot be done quickly. It requires that we take the wristwatch off. Glance at the clock when you’re trying to connect and you put a lid on what happens next. You can’t expect someone, whether a friend or God himself, to open his spirit to you when you’ve prioritized other things above him.
Intimacy and urgency can coexist, but rarely in proximity to one another. To find intimacy with another, you must slow time down, at least enough to communicate, “You’re valuable to me; I value you enough to go at your pace, not mine. Take all the time you need.”
Urgency – the tapping foot, the drumming of fingers – says, “This task has a time frame attached to it and needs to get done. Relationships are secondary.”
Jesus perpetually balanced intimacy with the Father with the urgency of meeting human needs. In one scene, after healing many people the night before, Jesus spent the early morning hours in solitude. By the time the needy mass of people found him, his sense of urgency had returned. “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also,” he declared. (Luke 4:42-44)
We Americans struggle mightily with this issue. Our work week has lengthened to 50+ hours while our debt has risen to unsupportable levels. We feel urgency all the time while our souls whither for lack of intimacy. We find ourselves losing the ability to calibrate. And our neediness gives us the hard edges that drive people away, sending us into an exile from one another and from ourselves (insofar as we better understand ourselves as we find intimacy).
Ultimately, you’ll not be fulfilled if all you feel is urgency. Productivity is not enough. We need to connect with one another and God. We are social beings, connection and intimacy add color to our gray lives.
I once prayed with a man who felt estranged from God. When at last God spoke to him, he wept. “What did God say?” I asked.
He replied, “God said, ‘I missed you.'”
Listen to the hunger inside you; it’s the still, small voice of God calling you deeper. Some of you have been away too long. We need you in our lives.
Comments (5)
Leave a Reply
This is good Seth. As I travel I see this as the biggest difference between our culture and every other culture. I have learned so much about hospitality, folks giving you their best or last bit of food, just to be with you and serve you. I have learned not to be in a hurry going house to house or hut to hut. Just being with people where they live. Focusing and listening with no intentions of rushing to the next place. It is so much like our relationship with our Jesus, he doesn’t care as much as what we do for Him as much as He just wants to be with us.
Thanks for the reminder.
To my human mind, it is uncanny how God speaks through His people. My biggest problem is spending time with God. I habitually try to spend time with Him at the end of the day to do whatever I want first. I hear Him say that I am putting other things before Him, but I find a way to excuse it as getting other tasks out of the way. Of course, I fall asleep before I even crack open my Bible. Sad… Then, I started getting frustrated, and started feeling like I was the only one trying to make a relationship. I wondered, why do I always have to go after Him? He made me, why can’t He come after me? Silly, I know. In hindsight, I could almost laugh at my thought process if it weren’t so absurd. And then, voila, I log onto my computer and read this. God speaks all the time. He is chasing after us all the time. He never gives up. Thank God, because a human would have given up a long time ago. Forgive me, Father. Thankfully, I know that He forgives me.
Sounds like a invitation!!!
Hugh
This was very good Seth. And I recognize the man.
Hi Seth!
Thank you for directing me over to this article. I like that you speak of our constant busyness without making the time to sit and get to know God or other people for that matter.
Though I still feel a bit of anxiety about the situation I wrote about in my comment on your other post, I am slowly settingly into being still, just as God told me. God does call us to intimacy with Him and I believe He wants us to appreciate that intimacy. It doesn’t mean we can’t have relationships with others, rather it guides us in our care for the relationships that exist in our lives.
I am thankful that God is bringing me closer to Him day by day.
Thank you for this post and for your prayers, Seth!!