Urgent vs important

The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways (Proverbs 14:8).

One of the hardest things we do is setting good priorities.  To get this right, we need to distinguish between what is urgent and what is important.

Something is urgent when time is running out.  The boss tells you to drop everything and get his project done now.  While shopping, your toddler sees something that he wants and starts screaming for it at the top of his lungs.  These are situations where fast action is required—the need for speed makes fixing things urgent. Something is important when getting it wrong will cause significant, long-term problems.  Being asked to get married requires careful thought before giving a life-changing answer.  You don’t take a new job if you are successful where you are until the pros and cons of making such a change have been carefully analyzed.

Urgency calls for immediate action; importance devotes time to matters that yield long term benefits.  Sadly, urgent things usually grab hold of our attention, pushing important things to the back burner, often with tragic results.  For example, a parent takes care of an urgent problem at the office, working late and missing the important investment of their time—being at their child’s recital. 

It’s all a matter of priorities.  Sometimes a situation is urgent and important at the same time.  But when the two come into conflict with each other, priorities have to be set.  Be warned: setting aside the urgent to deal with the important takes courage and trust.  You will take flak for not dropping everything to focus all your attention on something urgent.  At such times, you need to trust—trust that you are putting your limited resources of time where they will do the most good.

At times like these, we need God more than ever.  It is too easy to focus on the wrong things and let important matters slide because they are not waving their hands demanding our attention.  Satan slaps the urgent label on as much stuff as he can so we let our relationship with God fall by the wayside, neglected and forgotten.  When things are moving at a frantic pace, make time for prayer—ask Jesus to help you distinguish between the urgent and the important.