Urgency for the People Close to Us
by Leah Johnson
“What I feared has happened to me; what I dreaded has come true.”
Job’s words (Job 3:25) ran through my mind. I was reading a text no mom wants to receive. “Hey Leah, this is Jim. Call me, we have a slight emergency.” I hurried to my car and got to my friend’s house just as medics were taking my older son on a gurney down to the waiting ambulance. He’d been helping a friend clear out some old, dead limbs and trees and had fallen about 8 feet out of a tree. The medics paused just long enough I could say “love you, son” before they moved on.
As mom to two boys, that wasn’t the only time our family (our sons specifically) needed urgent attention. We were at my parents’ house outside Chicago when they were in elementary school, getting ready to go to Brookfield Zoo. Instead of an afternoon as planned, we spent the time getting medical attention for our younger son who, rather than rushing into the bathroom to brush his teeth, instead ran straight into the corner of the counter and broke open his eyebrow. Stitches were the afternoon’s lasting memory.
And then there were my parents. They moved from that Chicago suburb to Wabash, Indiana because it was somewhat central to their four kids and their families. I was on the phone with Pops one day because, yet again, Mother had forgotten to get out his prescriptions. His eyesight wasn’t good enough to get his medication and apparently, now her memory wasn’t either. Additionally, Mother had been in two car wrecks that could have been catastrophic. Something had to be done – urgently – before she or an innocent bystander was injured. Within weeks, my parents’ house had been cleaned out, listed with a realtor, and sold and they were living in Indianapolis with us. My family needed urgent attention.
Last Saturday, my husband Gary texted me to say our good friend had passed into the waiting arms of Jesus. I started to cry as I prayed, even with cleaning supplies still in my hands, because a dozen ladies were about to arrive for Bible study. Cleaning was important for my guests, but our friend’s left-behind family members urgently needed prayer.
Some of you, no doubt, have had similar situations, the sudden phone call, the urgent need to drop what had been a priority and handle something else. Life rarely comes at our desired pace. Big events don’t seem to come when there is nothing else going on; they come in the middle of a crowded schedule. We all know there is “the tyranny of the urgent,” but the urgency God wants us to have, to be on His mission to seek and save lost people, doesn’t have anything to do with being yanked this way and that by our schedules. Nothing is more important – or urgent – than His mission.
Unfortunately, being a procrastinator, “the tyranny of the urgent” in my schedule does often get the best of me. I work on the next thing that absolutely must be accomplished rather than the longer-term goals that I know God has set for me. I have been evaluating my schedule as this new school year has started, asking God to make my priorities so clear, regardless of what my schedule might say. What needs to go so that ministry can happen, the Kingdom of Jesus can be expanded? One of my favorite, and challenging, verses is found twice in Proverbs: “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come on you like a thief, scarcity like an armed man” (Proverbs 6:10-11, 24:33-34).
In my head and in my spirit, I know that our days are numbered, that at some point I’ll stand before my Savior and give an account. However, in reality, I’m cruising along as if I have all the time in the world. I’m certainly not saying that every minute of the day should be filled, a frenetic pace being kept accomplishing every possible goal. I learned a long time ago that I can’t possibly keep up with Gary! What I am saying is that I need to be in step with what Jesus wants to be doing with my time and with my life. Playing hours of a computer game or “doom-scrolling” the news feed on my phone, etc., etc., are not the best use of my time. We can all list our favorite ways to waste time. This week saw the restarting of two school-year-long ministries where I volunteer. I had to cut out a book study to make room. There are reasons to stay and there are reasons to drop out; it’s neither right nor wrong.
Eternity separated from God, suffering indescribable pain, will be real for billions. I am blessed to be able to play a small part in saving some from that fate. As this school year started, I knew God was asking me to focus, to be more deliberate, not just show up but to put focused thought into Kingdom work that is truly urgent, on His mission.
