Stop Rushing Through Your Day

Have you ever heard people say it’s good that your day is going by fast? Or you ask someone how their day is going, and they respond with, fast, so it’s good!? Anything along the lines of the day going by quickly is apparently supposed to be good. It’s widely accepted and has become our go-to phrases. But for as long as I can remember, I have disagreed with that.

I heard it regularly when I worked at the bank. I’d ask a customer how their day is, and they’d sigh in relief, saying, Thank God, it’s almost over. Or I can’t wait for it to end. Someone would ask me how my day is, and if I replied, very fast, without fail or surprise, every single person would say, well, that’s good!!!

That bothers me.

Why do we want our days to end? Why do we want to just get through it? Why do we take every minute and hour for granted? A new day is coming around in just a few hours, and for what, for us to do the same?

I believe we’re called for more than that. Actually, I know we are.

Time is going to pass whether we like it or not. It will feel faster the older we get. And before we know it, we will wish for it to slow down. We can slow ourselves down, at least internally, and go about our day enjoying every minute, enjoying the life we’re living, the breath we’re breathing, with the understanding that this day won’t ever repeat itself.

Even when your days and weeks feel mundane, repetitive, and like Groundhog Day, not a single day is the same as a day in the past. It’s up to you to make the most of it, even if that means changing some repetitive verbiage during small talk.

There are several Bible verses that help remind us how to enjoy our day.

The first one I’d like to share is in Lamentations 3:22-23 which says, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. And this reminds me that no matter what my day looks like today, God’s steadfast love has never ceased nor will it. His mercies are brand new every morning, no matter how my morning starts. If I wake up on time or if I’m late, if I’m cut off in traffic on the way to work or not, His mercy is new that morning for me and for the rest of my day. God’s faithfulness is great, and if nothing worked out and all went wrong, at the end of the day I can say this in a prayer, or even the hymn. Great is thy faithfulness!

In Psalm 118:24 it says, this is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. If you’re like me, you might think of the praise & worship song when you read this verse, but that’s the beauty of music and melodies, right? We can put scripture into song to remember God’s word more easily. But think about that verse, it says let us rejoice and be glad in it. And the reason to rejoice is simply because the Lord has made it. (Now I got a song stuck in your head).

Another verse is from Ecclesiastes 3:11 and it says, He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. God put an awareness and a longing in our hearts for the eternal. We are made in His image and therefore reflect even this part deeply within ourselves. Think about all the anti-aging products out there. The tips and tricks to stay young, wild, and free. The disappointment that comes when you realize you’re getting older.

This might be for another post, too, but did you know that in the Hebrew culture, aging is highly esteemed? One desired, longed, and lived for it because of the wealth of wisdom it brought. That’s what we’re called to do – to live a life worthy of the calling we received, so that we can educate, teach, and be an example to the generations after us. Why spend your days waiting for it to pass quicker when you can admire how beautiful every part of life is.

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift my soul. (Psalm 143:8). This is one of my favorite “morning” verses. It inspires me to start my day right: with the Lord. I love morning routines, but more than the routine itself, I love those mornings when I get to spend even a few minutes meditating on God’s steadfast love. It helps me to realign and prioritize my trust in Him instead of myself and my agenda.

There’s a few more verses that I want to share (below), but I won’t add any comments so that you can take them and meditate on them. Feel free to share your thoughts and revelations in the comments, or email me. But more importantly, stop rushing through your day and waiting for it to end, because at some point it will. It actually will.

Don’t rush through your day.
Take a few moments to pause.
Stop for just a few minutes.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Matthew 6:33-34

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

James 4:13-14

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

Proverbs 27:1