If the enemy can't destroy you, he will rush you.
In this episode of the Academy of the Bible Podcast, Colby F. Maier works through why hurry is a spiritual problem and not just a scheduling one, and why God forms you before he sends you.
It starts in Mark 3. Jesus goes up a mountain, calls the twelve he wanted, and appoints them, but notice the order. He appointed them that they might be with him, and then that he might send them out to preach and heal. The first appointment was not production. It was presence. Their authority came from having been with him.
A.W. Tozer named the danger: we become so engrossed with the work of the Lord that we neglect the Lord of the work. Many of us are chasing the assignment we believe God gave us while skipping the relationship that was supposed to supply it.
Then Luke 2, where Jesus is twelve years old in the temple, listening to the teachers and asking questions. When his parents find him he says he had to be about his Father's business. He wasn't preaching. He wasn't healing. He was learning. That was the business. Jesus spent thirty years in obscurity before three in public, and the silence of those years is the argument.
Colby also shares what it cost him to ignore this. At twenty-two, fresh out of university and saying yes to everything, he hit a wall — two and a half years of anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. Waking at 3am for weeks. His words: it was survival, not thriving. He talks openly about it because he'd rather you learn from it than repeat it.
The logic of the kingdom is foundation before elevation. Depth before display. The Chinese bamboo tree shows nothing above the soil for four years, then grows up to eighty feet in six weeks, because of what happened underground while nobody was watching.
"If you step into your purpose first without being formed, you will allow the assignment to crush you."
The pace of God is three miles per hour. Slow enough to stop. Slow enough to listen. Slow enough to notice the person in front of you.
Topics: Christian burnout, hurry sickness, spiritual formation, rest and renewal, abiding in Christ, discipleship, calling and purpose, Mark 3, Luke 2
Scripture in this episode: Mark 3:13-15, Luke 2:41-52, Ecclesiastes, John 15
Try The Good Word app — a faithful AI companion and live Bible study tools from trusted Christian voices: getthegoodword.com
Go deeper with the Academy of the Bible — courses, lectures, and weekly community around the Word of God: academyofthebible.org
If this episode helped you, leaving a rating or review genuinely helps other people find the show.
Follow so you don't miss an episode. New teachings and conversations every week.
Colby F. Maier is a pastor and speaker based in Portland, Oregon, and the founder of Academy of the Bible.
