Prayerful waiting on God is indispensable to effective service. Like the time-out in a football game, it enables us to catch our breath and fix new strategy. As we wait for directions, the Lord frees us from the tyranny of the urgent. He shows us the truth about Himself, ourselves, and our tasks. He impresses on our minds the assignments He want us to undertake. The need itself is not the call; the call must come from the God who knows our limitation. “The Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:13-14). It is not God who loads us until we bend or crack with an ulcer, nervous breakdown, heart attack, or stroke. These come from our inner compulsions coupled with the pressure of circumstances.
Tyranny of the Urgent.
P.T. Forsyth once said, “The worst sin is prayerlessness.” We usually think of murder, adultery, or theft as among the worst. But the root of all sin is self-sufficiency, independence from God. When we fail to wait prayerfully for God’s guidance and strength, we are saying, with our actions if not our lips, that we do not need Him. How much of our service is characterized by “going it alone?”
Tyranny of the Urgent.
We do know that Jesus’ prayerful waiting for God’s instructions freed Him from the tyranny of the urgent. It gave Him a sense of direction, a steady pace, and enabled Him to do every task God assigned. And on the last night He could say, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.”
Tyranny of the Urgent.