The High Cost of Hurry: 6 Counter-Intuitive Lessons on Cultivating Divine Presence
1. The Microwave Trap
We are currently caught in a perpetual state of “hurry, hurry, hurry.” Our modern infrastructure is designed almost entirely around the conservation of time. We rely on microwaved meals, digital photography, and one-day delivery. If a twenty-four-hour wait feels too long, we opt for curbside pickup, satisfied by the efficiency of an internet order.
The profound “modern disconnect” occurs when we attempt to apply these digital shortcuts to our inner lives. We want spiritual maturity to arrive with the speed of a high-speed download, but the soul refuses to yield to the clock. Some things—the most precious things—cannot be hurried. You don’t rush the building of a bridge or the development of a child in the womb. When we try to “microwave” our connection to the Divine, we lose the very depth we are searching for.
2. Why God Forbids the “Short-Cut”
In the economy of the Spirit, the process is not merely an obstacle standing between us and the goal. Very often, the process is part of the goal. As Tim Storey has expressed it, “God’s person has to go through God’s process.”
What we repeatedly practice and faithfully cultivate tends to become deeply rooted within us. When God provided manna in the wilderness, the Israelites still had to gather it daily and follow His instructions concerning it. The manna taught them dependence: they had to trust God for each day’s provision. Nevertheless, familiarity eventually gave way to dissatisfaction and complaining. What God intended as a daily lesson in dependence became something they began to take for granted.
God often uses gradual development to build within us the spiritual strength and maturity necessary to carry what He entrusts to us.
There is a psychological and spiritual law at play here: investment creates value. When God provided manna in the wilderness, it was initially perceived as magical. However, because it required zero personal investment, the appreciation quickly evaporated into complaining. This is the “easy come, easy go” nature of the shortcut. God utilizes a time-consuming, progressive development to ensure that what is built within us has the weight to last.
“Nobody is exempt from being processed by the Holy Spirit! There are no shortcuts in the training school of the Lord. It will take time to develop into a mature Christian.”
3. The Tragedy of the “Grieved Guest”
Song of Solomon 5:2–6 provides a vivid picture that can be applied to spiritual responsiveness. A woman hears her beloved knocking, but she hesitates because responding would inconvenience her. By the time she opens the door, he has withdrawn, although the fragrance of myrrh remains on the latch.
The passage is a love poem, not a direct teaching about the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, it illustrates an important spiritual danger: repeated hesitation can make us increasingly unresponsive to God’s prompting. The Holy Spirit does not compel our loving cooperation. When we continually treat His promptings as interruptions, our spiritual sensitivity can diminish.
A similar warning appears in Christ’s message to the church in Laodicea. Its members had become so comfortable and self-sufficient that they did not recognize their true spiritual condition. Christ pictured Himself standing at the door and knocking, inviting them to renewed fellowship with Him (Revelation 3:14–22).
4. The Duck Principle (Don’t Drown with the Oil Inside)
Consider a duck’s need to care for its feathers. Ducks regularly preen, distributing oil from a gland near the base of the tail while realigning the intricate structure of their feathers. This ongoing care helps keep their plumage in healthy, water-resistant condition.
The illustration offers a useful spiritual lesson. Believers have received the Holy Spirit, but we are also called to walk in step with Him. Possession is not the same as participation. If we continually neglect prayer, Scripture, worship, obedience, and spiritual attentiveness, we become increasingly vulnerable to the pressures surrounding us.
The Holy Spirit is not merely someone whose presence we acknowledge doctrinally. He is the One with whom we are invited to walk daily.
5. The “Blessing Trap”
In Exodus 33, God told Israel that an angel would go ahead of them and that they would still enter the promised land. Yet God warned that He would not personally go with them in the same way because of their persistent rebellion.
Moses understood that reaching the destination without God’s presence would not constitute true success. He insisted, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (Exodus 33:15). God’s presence was what distinguished Israel from every other nation.
This passage confronts us with a searching question: Do we want God Himself, or do we merely want the benefits we hope He will provide?
We should never become more interested in the blessing than in the Blesser.
6. Poise as a Spiritual Superpower
Poise is often misunderstood as a personality trait, but it is actually a spiritual “hovering” state. It is the ability to maintain an internal equilibrium regardless of external storms. Think of a red-winged blackbird balancing effortlessly on a reed, or the stillness of a hummingbird in flight.
This “hovering” balance is the ability to control initial emotional impulses. It is what allowed Jesus to maintain silence before Pilate and Paul to sing hymns in a dark prison. We regain this poise through praise. When we magnify the Divine rather than the “mountains” of our circumstances, the scales tip back into equilibrium.
Conclusion: The Invitation to the “Spacious Life”
Some limitations are imposed upon us by circumstances beyond our control. Yet the pressure we experience can be intensified by the hurried, cramped, and spiritually inattentive way in which we respond to those circumstances.
God invites us into an expansive life of trust, responsiveness, and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. This does not necessarily remove every external pressure, but it enlarges our inner capacity to live faithfully within it.
The hurried life easily becomes a shallow life. Slowing down creates room to recognize the quiet invitations we have been too distracted to hear.
If you stopped running for a moment today, what whispered invitation might you finally hear?
Rest in the assurance that the God who began a good work within you will faithfully continue it until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).
Over the next several months, I will be sharing articles drawn from the more than forty books I have written during the past sixteen years. Each article will include a link to the book on which it is based for readers who would like to explore the subject more deeply. If that is not something you need, simply enjoy the article itself. :-) ||Here is the book link for this article||