Obedience Over Hustle: Surrendering the Striving Heart Sample

Busyness: Taking Inventory of My Life

Mark chapter four gives us a glimpse of what a day in the life of Jesus looked like—packed full of teaching the masses, small group mentoring, and calming the wind and waves. It would be easy to categorize the life of Jesus as B-U-S-Y.

Those of us who pride ourselves on being a “productive” person, find comfort in this part of scripture. We use Jesus’ schedule to justify our multi-tasking, type-A, ADHD tendencies. But the question remains, “are we as quick to mimic the behavior of Jesus when He steals away, to be alone with His Father?” 

Mark 1:35 NIV: Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Luke 6:12 NIV: One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

Are we just as eager as Jesus was to steal away (sometimes for days or weeks at a time) with our closest family and friends for moments of rest and refueling? 

John 2:12 NIV: After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

John 6:24 NIV: Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

Instead of gloating in how much He accomplished, Jesus quietly withdrew—repeatedly. He didn’t boast about how busy He was. Neither did He complain about being tired, burned out, or in need of a vacation. Not once do we hear Him utter the words, “I’m too busy.”

Yet, this is often our response, and a badge of honor that we wear proudly.

For some, the busyness is mostly work-related. It starts early with pre-breakfast emails and doesn’t end until the wee hours of the morning. For others, it may be the house projects, the side-hustle, or the volunteer work that has shifted from a part-time commitment to something resembling a full-time job.

And, rather than push back against the pace of life and the feeling that we have to do it all, we elevate the hustle that we live in because it strokes our ego and makes us feel important about what we “do,” about what we accomplish in a day.

The difference between Jesus and us? His significance didn’t come from what He achieved, but in Whose He was. Go back and read Matthew 3:16-17 again.

Note, Jesus hadn’t performed a miracle yet.

He hadn’t preached a sermon. 

He hadn’t healed anyone, called anyone, or done anything significant. 

And yet, His Father was pleased. 

Because Jesus was His Son.

He didn’t have anything to prove.

When we understand that our value is not a result of what we accomplish, but in Whose we are, we can say goodbye to the artificial significance that comes as a result of filling our calendars and exhausting ourselves. We can rest like Jesus did because we don’t have anything to prove to our Father; He loves us just as we are.

Take inventory of your life—your calendar, schedule, mental clarity, and health. Is being busy connected to your self-worth? Are you guilty of being busy, but not actually pursuing things of worthwhile purpose?