Tyranny of the Urgent

"Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives."  Titus 3:14

I once heard a sermon where a pastor referred to a common phenomenon that he called, "tyranny of the urgent."  Really it's not so much about what is actually urgent, but rather what we have been conditioned to perceive as urgent.  In responding to these false urgencies, we accomplish nothing.

Definition of "Tyranny of the Urgent":  When seemingly "urgent" matters draw our attention away from more important things.

An easy illustration:  You are cooking dinner, and the phone rings.  You rush to pick up the phone (which first had to be found under a pile of laundry and toys) to be greeted by a telemarketer.  After politely informing said telemarketer that you are not interested in what they are trying to sell (because I'm sure that everyone reading this blog would be polite to telemarketers *wink, wink*), you get off of the phone, and go back into the kitchen to find that the dinner you have spent the last hour perfecting has now overcooked and is inedible.

God has really been working with me on identifying true & false urgencies recently.  In turn it is a concept that I am trying to teach my children through example.

Sometimes living this out can look strange to the world.  As I stated before, in our culture we have been conditioned to perceive certain things as urgent.  Especially in this age of constant connectivity. 

Those of you who know me well, know that I am a planner.  My schedule is something that I take pride in, something that I work hard to perfect and something that can hold me back from taking care of the things God has set in front of me, if I'm not careful.  I do not want to miss out on any more ministry opportunities or any more blessings because it didn't fit my schedule.  I'm done with that!  Satan may not have that any more!

No, I will not be throwing out my calendar, and yes, I will continue to schedule things.  However, I do plan to go when and where the Holy Spirit leads.  I will be there for my family and friends.  I will cook my family's dinner without burning it, so if I don't answer the phone, leave me a message...I will definitely call you back.  Unless you are a telemarketer!


By the way, while writing this blog post I had to recognize a true urgency and put my writing on hold in order to love on a crying baby.  Definitely a blessing that I don't want to miss out on!