Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
By John Zumwalt

I Have Heard Some Say That God is in No Hurry. “With the Lord a day is like a 1000 years, and 1000 years but a day.” Although that is what 2 Peter 3:8 says, I am convinced that our emphasis is wrong. We think that our 1000 years is God’s one day. Rather, I believe our one day seems like a thousand years to Him.

The days passed by so slowly as my grandpa labored for every breath. His vitals decreased, and death was coming. How difficult his breathing became. How his great heart struggled for life. I watched for just four days, but each breath seemed an eternity. I remember so clearly the precious words he spoke to me. Time did not fly, as my loved one died; it slowed down.
Jesus gave His life to save the people of the world, yet He has to daily endure the death of those whom He loves. He sits at the bed of His children, young and old, who labor for breath yet perish in darkness. 2 Peter says a day for God is like a thousand years, and He is not willing that any should perish, but He desires that all come to repentance.
While we heralds of this message of life waste our days in things He did not call us to; while we bearers of this Good News involve ourselves in all manner of activity, business pursuits, “higher” education, all consuming relationships—multitudes perish on our watch. We are more urgent about getting home in time to see our favorite TV show than about those sinking under the waves of sin and death around us or at the ends of the earth.
The Father is always looking out the window hoping for the prodigal’s return, and as soon as He sees any sign of his repentance, He rushes—RUSHES to embrace His son. Love Demands Haste!
For the Father, every day looking out the window seemed like a thousand years. Slackness in our work of saving the lost and rescuing the perishing betrays the reality that we are careless and loveless. His love through us demands haste. The Father’s love is rushing to embrace the lost of the world… but we are His hands and His feet.
Today millions living in India are still waiting to hear the Good News for the first time. Deeply religious, they search for forgiveness, peace, solutions to their desperate problems. Yet all their prayers, sacrifices and pilgrimages cannot save them. Only Jesus can, but as of yet they have never heard His precious name. One after another, they are dying and entering eternity with their sins unforgiven—lost forever. This is not an old story; this is happening today on our watch!
When Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, He did so, because God does not want anyone to perish. (Matt 18:14, 1 Tim 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9) However, it seems that the Church so often forgets the urgency of the Great Commission.
Jesus was urgent in His rescue of the lost:

Matthew 9:36 says, “When He saw the crowds He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.”

He was haunted by the vision of those who were cut off from the Father’s house, and He longed to rescue them.
“And they were scattered for lack of a shepherd. And they became food to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill. Yea, My flock was scattered on all the face of the earth, and none searched nor sought for them.” (Ezekiel 34:5-6)

23rd Psalm of the Unreached
I have no shepherd. I want and am in need.
I have no one to feed me in green pastures.
I have no rest.
I have no one to lead me to quiet waters.
I am thirsty.
I have no one to restore my anxious and
despairing soul.
I find no one to guide me in right ways.
I don’t know where to turn.
As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, evil surrounds me.

I am terribly afraid for no one is with me
to comfort me.
I have no feast prepared for me.
I am overwhelmed by my enemies.
No one anoints my wounds or fills my cup.
My cup is empty.
All the days of my life are filled with disappointments and deceit.
I have no home for eternity.
Will I dwell in an evil house forever?
-Unknown

Precious are they in His sight. He calls us to rush the Good News to them…for they step from life into eternity. John G. Paton (1821-1907), pioneer missionary to the South Sea Islands, knew the Father’s urgency: “I clearly saw that all at home had free access to the Bible and the means of Grace, with Gospel light shining all around them, while the poor heathen were perishing without even the chance of knowing all God’s love and mercy to men.”
We love God to hurry when it is our issue. We have no patience for delay, when we want something from Him. Money for this… relationship with her… comfort for our suffering. We want God to hurry. But the rest of the time we assume that God is content to leave the lost alone till we strike it rich in our new scheme, or we reach “security” or a more convenient time rolls around.

“He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.” Prov. 10:5

“Behold NOW is the accepted time; Today is the day of salvation!” 2 Cor. 6:2

God’s Love for them is now. If today is for their salvation, then now is the time for a preacher to go. (Rm. 10) “He who is slack in his work is brother to him who destroys.” Prov. 18:9
The Circus Barker yells into the passing crowd, “Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!” But this is no cheap side show; this is life and death for the peoples who sit in darkness. The Heart of God beats, “Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! For those I love die so fast!”