7 Bible Verses About Rushing Through Life
I sit in the woods on a warm autumn afternoon, and the golden canopy gazes down like God bottled up all the happiness in the world and imbibed it into the maples. Going to the woods is my way of stepping out of life’s hurried rhythms. Today, I open my Bible in search of Bible verses about rushing through life.
I’ve been in a hurry almost constantly lately, and I need to reset my rhythms.
Bible Verses About Rushing Through Life
I open my Bible to these familiar words: “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
In the silence of the woods, I am reminded that rest is more than just something we do or something we plan into our weeks.
Rest is a state of the soul.
Rest is a mind fixed on Christ, leaning into him, and living in tune with his rhythms.
Here are seven Bible verses about rushing through life. If you have been hurried lately as well, I invite you to soak in these truths. Then, we’ll talk about practical ways to apply them to our lives.
7 Bible Verses About Rushing Through Life
1. Philippians 4:6 (ESV)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Have you ever noticed that rushing and anxiety often go hand-in-hand? Instead of hurrying through our days, what if we prayed through our days?
2. Isaiah 26:3
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
The rushed mind is not at peace.
How do we find peace?
We keep our eyes fixed on the Lord. And the Lord will never call us to rushed lives.
3. John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Jesus offers us the gift of peace. We claim it by following his example.
Not one time in Scripture do we see Jesus in a hurry. He doesn’t get himself worked up over getting to the next ministry site on time. He doesn’t stress over the darkness falling over the hungry crowds. The Sermon on the Mount never mentions fitting as much as possible into our days.
So why do we fill our days to the brim, forcing ourselves into rushed rhythms we’ll never be able to peacefully maintain?
The reality is that I often have more of a choice than I realize when it comes to hurrying.
All too often, in my quest for productivity, I aim to fit more into my minutes than what is reasonable. One more basket of laundry, one more dish in the sink, and one more wipe-down of the countertop might not seem to hurt anyone. However, when the cost is a loss of peace, which ultimately results in snapping at the people I love most, hurrying is destructive.
4. Colossians 3:15
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Again, the peace of Christ can only rule in our hearts when we remain focused on him, following his example. This includes being thankful. Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to be thankful when rushing?
5. 1 Peter 5:7
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Instead of trying to fix every anxiety-inducing situation in life, what if we cast these anxieties on him?
6. 1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
When our lives lack peace, we know something is off. Have you ever noticed that hurrying steals your peace?
7. Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. . .
Stay close to Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will help you slow down and live with peace.
Let’s Apply These Bible Verses About Rushing Through Life
So what does it look like to slow down? Let’s look at a few suggestions:
1. Refuse to multitask.
It took me decades to discover that multitasking is a joy-stealer and peace-crusher. We live in a world where production is praised, and we buy the lie. We spend many of our moments simultaneously completing multiple tasks at once.
What if you decided not to help your child study for the spelling test, cook dinner, feed the baby, and listen to a podcast at the same time? What if you committed to fast from multitasking and see what happened in your life? (Read more about my journey with this here.)
Our society applauds us for multitasking. However, scientific research suggests the negative effects of this practice: Multitasking simply doesn’t work. More than this, multitasking feeds the idol of productivity. It pulls our attention in multiple directions at once, and we fail to be fully present in our moments.
2. Be honest about the reality of your actual life.
What is the reality of your actual life? Are you living within the realistic boundaries of this reality? Or are you trying to force your own reality despite the season that has currently unfolded in front of you?
These questions followed me for months after the birth of our third child. I hurried from one task to the next, frustrated by the lack of time for cooking meals, folding laundry, and teaching the 5-year-old his ABCs.
Finally, I realized it wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t my fault that cooking dinner, folding laundry, and teaching the alphabet had to wait until my husband returned home. The reality of my life was a very full schedule with three young children at home. Every time I tried to force my own agenda, I found myself in a hurry – trying to accomplish more than what was reasonable.
Are you weary from trying to do more than what is actually possible in your current season of life? Take some time to assess the reality of your actual life, and offer yourself grace to live within those limits.
3. Accept God’s plan for your days.
Part of accepting the reality of your actual life is accepting God’s plan for your days. If you are hurrying, you are not embracing God’s best for you because his plan is never for a rushed, frantic, hurried way of living.
Take a hard look at where you might need to bow out of some of your commitments and create the life you actually want to live. Remember, you get to create the life you want to live. You can choose to jump into the current of fast-paced living, stress-filled days, and hurry; or you can choose a life with margin time, space to breathe, and space to actually enjoy your life.
A Free Devotional to Help You Slow Down
If these Bible verses about rushing through life has blessed you, I have a gift for you today: My online devotional Unrushed: Slow Your Pace and Embrace the Fully-Present Life. This is a powerful journey into a life that is more present and peaceful. Click here, and I’ll send this free resource to your email inbox!
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