Jennifer Dukes Lee - Growing Slow Bible Study: A 6-Week Guided Journey to Un-Hurrying Your Heart

Slowing down: Is it even possible in this age?

Every year I cross paths with thousands of womenin person and in my inbox. Each comes from different stations and stages of life. But it seems none is immune from the itch to hurry.

Teen girls feel rushed to make decisions about their futures, while juggling overloaded calendars and crazy schedules.

Young-adult women, just starting out on their own, worry that they are falling behindbefore they even get startedwhen they compare themselves to their peers.

Middle-aged women race to do more, juggling responsibilities at home and at work, and they ask themselves, Shouldnt I be further along by now?

And older womeneven those who have lived rich, full liveswonder how the years seem to fly by faster than ever before. They ask themselves, Where did the time go? Did I do enough with the time Ive been given? What will be my legacy?

The story is the same for all of us: We feel the pressure to hurry. We feel this urge to constantly check our phones, to monitor our progress, and to wonder if we should be further along than we are. We are weary from our frantic-paced living. Our hearts are squeezed. This accelerated lifestyle affects our sleep, our mood, our relationships, and our ability to truly appreciate the beautiful, everyday gifts from God.

What if we could finally slow down? What if we could truly live in the now ?

I have good news for you. Its not too late to slow it all down and really live your life instead of hustle through it.

And its not too early, either.

No matter your age or season of life, Jesus is calling you to something better than hurry.

I know what some of you are thinking: Slow down? Thats not possible. Theres too much at stake, too much to be done. I dont want to miss an opportunity. I cant afford to slow down.

But let me ask you this: What if you cant afford not to?

Thats the question I began to ask myself when it was clear that my hurried existence was taking a toll on my souland my body. The problem wasnt just a busy schedule. The cure would require more than excusing myself from a set of obligations.

I needed to un-hurry my heart.

Do you have a hurried heart, too?

See if this sounds familiar: A hurried heart is the anxious way you feel when you calculate all that must be done. Its the weight on your chest when you think youve got to hustle. Its the pressure to catch up with everyone else. And its the condition that makes you falsely believe that the small, good things youre growing really arent that great after all.

We need a rescue to calm our hurried hearts.

And thats exactly what God offers. Throughout the Bible, God shows us what it looks like to find peace in a chaotic world. His words give us clear direction on how to find satisfaction in the here and now. His Son, Jesus, demonstrates how to live a slower-paced, intentional life. Jesus took time to connect, not only with his Father, but with the people all around him.

I know how an un-hurried way of life can feel out of reach. Patterns of hurry are ingrained into our thinking, and it may take a little work to untangle ourselves from old habits. But look at you right now! When you picked up this study guide, you took the first step toward a slower, better way.

So gather up some friends and join me on our fifth-generation family farm, a place where I have learned the ancient art of Growing Slow. Together, well learn an un-hurried way of life.

This Bible study will open a path for you, leading you away from the pressures of bigger, harder, faster. My prayer for you is that when you reach the last page of this study, you will find the true relief that comes when you stop running and start resting in Jesus.

It is possible.

Ready, set, slow.