A Common Problem

When was the last time you told someone that you were busy?

If you are like most of us, you need only think back a few hours or a couple of days at most.

A friend at church asks, “How was your week?” You respond, “It was good. Just busy, busy, busy.”

Your spouse sends you a text, “How’s your day going?” You text back, “So busy.”

Your child says, “Look at my drawing.” You reply, “Just one second. I’m busy.”

A family member calls and asks, “Would you like to come over for dinner this weekend?” You respond, “Sorry, I’m busy then. How about next month?”

The reality of our busyness is undeniable. We go about our days working long hours, rushing from one extra-curricular activity to the next, scrolling through our ever-repopulating social media timelines, responding to one urgent request after another.

All the while, we are so busy that we haven’t even paused to consider our busyness. How should we think about it biblically? Is this the way things are supposed to be? How is it affecting our relationship with God?

There have been seasons of busyness in my life when I have needed to ask these questions, take hold of my busyness, and submit it to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I imagine that’s true for you, too. Perhaps you are in a season like that right now.

One of the best resources that I have returned to again and again for help with this problem is Kevin DeYoung’s book Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem.

If you are in a busy season of life, or if you are preparing for one, I would like to commend this book to you by sharing three simple lessons that I have learned from it.

Lesson #1: We must combat the dangers of our busyness.

One of the most potent truths I have learned from Crazy Busy is that busyness can be dangerous.

Busyness threatens to kill our joy. When the responsibilities begin to pile up, when the task list starts getting too long, when the calendar gets completely booked, we can be tempted to get angry or despair or run away.

Busyness threatens to distract our hearts. In Jesus’ parable of the sower (Mark 4:1-20), it is instructive that the seed sown among the thorns proves unfruitful because of “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things” (v. 19). When we busy our hearts with the world and its desires, we are in serious danger of missing Jesus and dismissing his Word.

Busyness threatens to mask our problems. DeYoung articulates this danger well: “The greatest danger with busyness is that there may be greater dangers you never have time to consider” (27). We must carve out time and space in our Christian lives to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling through meditating on the Scriptures and praying (Phil. 2:12). One of the main reasons we don’t do that is because we are too busy.

Our greatest defense against the dangers of busyness is repentance and faith in Christ. We must repent of allowing busyness to control our joy and trust that we will have a deeper joy when we abide in Christ. We must repent of pursuing the things of this world and wholeheartedly seek after Jesus. We must repent of spiritual hardness and cultivate a vibrant relationship with God through Christ.

Lesson #2: We must identify the reasons for our busyness.

One of the most profound insights I have received from Crazy Busy is that busyness is oftentimes the fruit of a deeper root issue in our hearts.

DeYoung identifies some very specific and surprising heart issues that can lead to busyness. Here are a few:

• People-pleasing: When you are living for the acceptance and praise of others, your instinct will be to do whatever you think other people want you to do, and you will get real busy, real quick.
• Perfectionism: Whether in your work life or parenting or spiritual disciplines, when you expect absolute perfection you will drive your into a frenzy of busyness.
• Pride: We are finite beings. For us to function properly, we need to sleep and eat and rest and trust in the Lord. But when we are proud, we forget about these realities. We think, “I’ll sleep a little less so I can get more done” or “If I don’t do this no one else will” or “I don’t have time to pray.” Our busyness is oftentimes fueled by a proud overestimation of our own ability and importance.

Understanding the root of our busyness problem is a key step in our efforts to address it. Once we identify that the real problem is people-pleasing, we can attack it at the root by growing in our desire to please the Lord. We can combat perfectionism in our hearts by reminding ourselves that we are accepted by God not because of our own perfection but rather Christ’s. We can uproot pride in our hearts by meditating on the infinite greatness and perfect holiness of our God.

Lesson #3: We must embrace the reality of our busyness.

It is true that busyness presents real spiritual dangers in our lives. It is true that our busyness may stem from deeper heart issues. But it is also true that one of the main reasons why we are busy is because we are supposed to be busy.

The Lord has called us to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-38). The Lord has called us to go and make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19). The Lord has called us to choose the better portion of listening to and following Jesus (Mark 10:38-42). The Lord has called us to serve the church and bear one another’s burdens, and spend ourselves for his glory.

When we faithfully “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33), we will be busy.

The call on our lives isn’t to lazily avoid this kind of busyness but rather to embrace it with confidence and trust in the Lord.
Kevin DeYoung’s book Crazy Busy has helped me immensely in this endeavor, and so I commend it to you.

For more information on this topic, listen to Pastor Coty’s Midweek lesson on “Busyness in the Christian Life.”