I mean, He was literally the Son of God walking on the earth. Don’t you think He had more than a few people to talk to? His ministry only lasted 3 years before He was crucified. That’s not a lot of time to change the world.
Last week we got the chance to go back to Louisiana to help Samaritan’s Purse with their hurricane relief efforts. It involves a lot of manual labor and there are thousands of work orders that are still left to be done between the multiple deployment sites across Louisiana. Because of that I really felt the need to always be doing something at the job sites. My mindset was to get the job done to get to the next job, to get to the next job, to get to the next job. It makes sense. But the truth is, it’s not how Jesus would have done it.
The first time Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah was to a Samaritan woman at a well (John 4). If you know anything about the relationship between men and women in Jesus’ time, let alone Jews and Samaritans, you would know that it would have been incredibly counter-cultural for Jesus to even be speaking to her, much less reveal himself to her as the Messiah. Some context: Jesus was leaving Judea to go to Galilee. Right between Judea and Galilee was Samaria. The Jews and Samaritans would do everything they could to not come in contact with each other, so much so that Jews would take a route that went entirely around Samaria when going from Judea to Galilee. Scripture says, however, that Jesus had to pass through Samaria (John 4:4). If you were the Messiah, a Jewish rabbi, who came to give the Good News to Jews and then to the rest of the world, would you start by telling one Samaritan woman? Would that be the best and most logical option? Maybe speak to a big crowd first. A market? Somewhere with a lot of people.
The point is, our view of getting things done as quickly and efficiently as possible is not necessarily a biblical one. Jesus took his time with people. He built relationships with them. He knew them. He first revealed His identity as the Messiah, the Son of God, to one Samaritan woman. The people closest to Him were average, sinful, broken people. He often took time to retreat to places away from crowds to pray. He walked differently than we walk today, especially in America. He wasn’t an all-go get-things-done kind of man. Far from it. In Louisiana there were a lot of times I wasn’t doing anything at a job site, and it made me anxious. I’m used to hurrying. Used to being quick and efficient with work. Once I accepted it though, I was able to connect to God and minister in a new way, by taking a break with Him. I sat in His presence, took time to pray over the property and the homeowner, and felt peace. It might feel strange but it’s actually closer to what Jesus would have done.
Where are you hurried? When’s the last time you said “no” to something, not because you had another commitment, but because you didn’t need to be busy? Does it make you uncomfortable to just sit and not do something? To just be in His presence? I encourage you to try it out. Much love!
