WHEN HURRY BECOMES A SPIRITUAL TRAP
DATE: 5th of October 2026
AUTHOR: Evang Ademola Elemo
SERIES: BEWARE OF THE PLAGUE OF HURRY
đź“– SCRIPTURE READING
Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
Psalm 37:7 “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him…”
🕊️ MEDITATION
We live in a world that constantly tells us to hurry.
Hurry and succeed. Hurry and become successful. Hurry and get married. Hurry and make money. Hurry and achieve your dreams.
Hurry because everyone else seems ahead. But not everything that is urgent is important, and not everything that is fast is fruitful. There is a difference between diligence and hurry. Diligence works faithfully according to God’s wisdom. Hurry often works under pressure, fear, comparison, or impatience. The danger is that when hurry becomes a pattern, we may begin making decisions without waiting for God.
HURRY CAN MAKE YOU MOVE BEFORE GOD’S TIME
Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us that there is “a time to every purpose.” God is a God of timing.
There are things that may be good but are not good yet. There are opportunities that may look attractive but are not necessarily God’s assignment. There are doors that should be entered, and there are doors that require patience. Sometimes the greatest spiritual discipline is not moving quickly but knowing when to wait.
Isaiah 40:31 says: “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength…” Waiting on God is not wasting time. Waiting can be preparation. Waiting can be protection. Waiting can be positioning. Waiting can be God’s way of developing the character required to carry what you are asking Him for.
HURRY CAN MAKE YOU HEAR THE WRONG VOICE
When people become desperate, they can become vulnerable to voices they would normally reject. Abraham and Sarah received a promise from God concerning a son. But when the fulfillment seemed delayed, Sarah suggested another arrangement.
Genesis 16:2 says: “…the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid…” Ishmael was born through that decision.
The story teaches us something important:
A delay in God’s promise does not mean permission to manufacture its fulfillment.
Sometimes we create problems because we cannot tolerate the process. We force relationships. We force opportunities. We force decisions. We force financial moves. We force ministry. We force outcomes. And later we discover that what we rushed into requires years of correction.
HURRY CAN MAKE YOU MISS WHAT GOD IS DOING
Jesus told His disciples: John 15:4
“Abide in me, and I in you.” Notice the word abide.
It means to remain, continue, dwell. The kingdom of God is not built on constant rushing.
Some things grow slowly. Faith grows. Character grows. Wisdom grows. Relationships grow.
Children grow. Businesses grow. Ministries grow.
Spiritual maturity grows. You cannot command everything to mature at the speed of your desire.
Mark 4:26–27 describes the kingdom like seed that is planted and then grows gradually.
There is a process between planting and harvest.
Do not destroy the process because you are impatient for the harvest.
KINGDOM TRUTHS ABOUT THE PLAGUE OF HURRY
1. GOD HAS A TIME FOR WHAT HE HAS PURPOSED
Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time…”
God’s timing is part of His wisdom.
2. WAITING ON GOD IS NOT WASTING YOUR LIFE
Isaiah 40:31 “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength…”
Waiting can renew you rather than delay you.
3. IMPATIENCE CAN PRODUCE WHAT GOD DID NOT AUTHOR
Genesis 16:2 records Sarah’s decision to use Hagar to produce a child. The promise was from God, but the attempt to fulfill it through human impatience created consequences.
4. GOD OFTEN DEVELOPS THE PERSON BEFORE RELEASING THE PROMISE
Galatians 4:1–2 explains that an heir, while still a child, remains under tutors until the appointed time.
5. PEACE SHOULD HAVE A PLACE IN YOUR DECISIONS
Colossians 3:15 says: “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts…” Constant inner pressure is not a reliable substitute for God’s wisdom.
🔎 REFLECTION QUESTIONS
What area of my life am I currently rushing?
Am I moving because God is leading me or because I am afraid of being left behind?
Have I confused delay with denial?
Is there something I am trying to force that requires patience?
What would change if I trusted God’s timing more completely?
PRAYER
Father, teach me to walk at Your pace.
Deliver me from the plague of hurry.
Where impatience has influenced my decisions, give me wisdom.
Where comparison has made me feel behind, give me peace.
Where fear has made me rush, teach me to trust You.
Help me recognize the difference between diligence and unhealthy haste.
Give me grace to wait when I need to wait, move when I need to move, speak when I need to speak, and remain silent when I need to remain silent.
Do not allow me to manufacture what You have promised to provide.
Let Your timing become more important to me than my urgency. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
ACTION POINT
Today, identify one decision or situation you have been rushing.
Do not immediately act on it.
Take time to pray about it, examine your motives, and seek God’s wisdom.
Ask:
“Am I moving because God is leading me, or because I am afraid to wait?”
SPECIAL INSIGHT
Hurry is dangerous because it can make you solve a problem that God intended to use as a process. Joseph spent years moving through difficult seasons before stepping into the position God had prepared for him.
Psalm 105:19 says: “Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.”
The waiting was not meaningless.
God was developing something in Joseph before the promise became visible.
Therefore, never measure God’s activity only by how quickly circumstances change.
Sometimes God is doing His deepest work while nothing appears to be happening.