As we start a new year, some of us are thinking about resolutions to make for 2025 — more tasks and goals to add to our already busy schedules. Could it be that it might be more healthy for us to make a list of things NOT to do? If you are “crazy busy,” it might be worth considering.
It has always struck me as ironic that in an age of so many modern conveniences, including phones that are supposed to be smart enough to do a lot of work for us, we are nonetheless more busy than ever before. That’s what Pastor Kevin DeYoung seeks to address in “Crazy Busy,” which was released back in 2013, when we probably weren’t as busy as we are now.
This is a book for those who wake up every day with the motor running, as DeYoung describes himself. For me personally, a person who frequently finds himself more busy than I'd like, I was encouraged to hear that there others out there who wish they ate better, kept better track of receipts, programmed the presets in the car, and “knew where those little thingies for the basketball pump were….” (p.114). The only thing worse than being too busy is simultaneously thinking that you’re still not doing enough.
There is indeed something strange about the fact that I say I hate being so busy, but don't do anything to stop it. Could it be that there is something in my heart that wants to be busy, that finds some kind of reward or justification in always having something to do? What is that? As Peter Kreeft has written, “We want to be harried and hassled and busy. Unconsciously, we want the very things we complain about.” (p.83).
In the end, it ironically takes hard work not to be so busy. We have to plan for it now, learn to say no, accept our finitude. Remember that busyness does not equal holiness, and that even Jesus said no. Even Jesus didn’t do everything. “(Jesus) knew that if he were to accomplish the purposes God had for him, he would have to pass up ten thousand good purposes other people had for his life . . . If Jesus had to live with human limitations, we’d be foolish to think we don’t.” (p.60)
These are just a few of the lessons I learned from this very practical and balanced book. And best of all, it's short, so you can definitely fit it into your busy schedule.