Opinions
Sense of Urgency
One of the non-traits of millennials that I have observed in my encounters with them is: sense of urgency. They take their own sweet time with class assignments. If they don’t make the deadline, so what?
In contrast, motorcycle drivers are so in a hurry, they break all traffic rules. They drive as though there’s a race to their destination.
Both behaviors are puzzling, making one wonder if there is a middle ground.
Perhaps these are two graphic examples of the contrasting speed with which human beings make life decisions: too slow or too rash. Both are based on the clock and the calendar—inventions of man. On earth, we are time bound.
And yet, both are relative.
Sometimes there are difficult circumstances when we wish things would move along more quickly so they’ll be over as soon as possible. Other times, there are impending dangers that we wish we could hold back for as long as we could. And yet other times, we stand in a long wait—but the reward for our hard work does not come.
Our timing is flawed, which is why when making decisions that have lifelong consequences, we need grace.
“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” James 1:5 (NLT)
“I rushed into marriage at 15 because I was pregnant,” said one of my friends. “Look where it got me.”
She has since separated from her husband and her three children are under the care of her parents because she is not earning enough to support them.
“It was a dream job. But I didn’t want to make a mistake so I did some sort of SWOT analysis before I took it,” another friend told me. She laughs at this incident now but it broke her heart then. “When I finally got all the pros and cons down pat and decided to take it, the employer said they had already hired someone else.”
I personally believe that we all need some sense of urgency in everything we do to get things done and make things right. Especially at this time of chaos.
Matthew 3:2 says it succinctly, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
It’s nearer than we think.
