Are You So Busy You’re Missing What God Is Saying?

Luke 2:41–52

We live in a world that celebrates being busy. Our schedules are full, our phones constantly demand our attention, and there is always somewhere else to go, something else to accomplish, or somebody who needs something from us. We can wake up in the morning already thinking about what needs to happen next. But there is a danger in constantly moving: we can be moving fast and still be moving without direction. Sometimes we are so anxious to get to the next destination that we leave the very place where God is trying to speak to us.

Luke 2:41–52 gives us an incredible picture of this through Jesus when He was only twelve years old. Jesus had traveled to Jerusalem with Mary, Joseph, and others for the Feast of Passover. When the celebration ended, everyone began the journey home. But Jesus stayed behind. Luke 2:43 says that as they returned, “the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem.” Everybody else was moving, but Jesus was lingering. The crowd was headed in one direction, but Jesus remained where He needed to be. Three days later, Mary and Joseph found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening and asking questions. When they questioned Him, Jesus responded with the statement that reveals the heart of this entire passage: “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” There is a progression here that I believe we need to rediscover: linger in His presence, listen to His Spirit, and then launch into His harvest. We cannot continually rush through the first two and expect to be effective in the third.

Linger in His Presence

Before we become busy doing something for God, we need to learn how to linger with God. This should begin before we ever step into the demands of our day. Spending time in His presence should not be something we occasionally squeeze into our schedule when we have a few extra minutes. It should not be optional; it should become essential. We need a meeting place. It does not have to be a church building. It could be a chair in our bedroom, the kitchen table before everyone wakes up, a quiet place outside, or somewhere we sit in our vehicle. The location is not the important part; the meeting is. Read His Word, talk to Him, worship Him, thank Him, praise Him, pour out your heart before Him, and sometimes simply become quiet before Him.

There is something important we need to understand about lingering: not every place where we linger is a place God has assigned us. We all linger somewhere. The question is where. We can linger on social media. We can linger in entertainment. We can linger in worry. We can linger in somebody else’s problems. We can linger in offense, fear, disappointment, or conversations God never asked us to have. Then we tell ourselves that we do not have enough time to linger with God. Sometimes our greatest problem is not a lack of time; it is misplaced attention.

David gives us a powerful warning about this in 2 Samuel 11:1. Scripture says it was the time of year “when kings go out to battle,” but David stayed behind in Jerusalem. David was lingering, but he was lingering in the wrong place. Then came the distraction. What followed affected David, his family, and his kingdom. That is why we have to pay attention to where we linger. Distractions do not always announce themselves as dangerous. Sometimes they simply appear when we are not where we are supposed to be.

We also live in a culture built around keeping us constantly entertained. There is always another video, notification, program, headline, opinion, or voice demanding our attention. Western culture has become very good at keeping us entertained, occupied, and moving. If we are not careful, the crowd can become louder than Christ. We should not be surprised when distractions arise. We should expect them. If the enemy can keep our attention occupied with everything else, he does not necessarily have to convince us to walk away from God. He can simply keep us so distracted that we fail to recognize what God is saying.

Lingering in God’s presence also helps us become calibrated. Think about an instrument that has to be calibrated before it can accurately perform its function. Our hearts, minds, attitudes, and priorities need that same kind of spiritual alignment. Colossians 3:2 tells us to “set your minds on things above.” Sometimes we wake up spiritually out of calibration. Our emotions are pulling us one direction, circumstances another. Somebody has upset us, something did not happen the way we expected, fear is talking, pressure is building, and our thoughts are running everywhere.

David experienced tremendous distress in 1 Samuel 30:6, but Scripture says that David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. David knew where to go to get recalibrated. We need that same place. We need to know how to get alone with God until our thinking, emotions, attitudes, and priorities come back into alignment with Him. You cannot be about the Father’s business if you are always in a hurry to leave the Father’s presence.

Listen to the Spirit

Luke 2:46 tells us that when Mary and Joseph finally found Jesus, He was in the temple “sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.” Notice that He was listening. There are things God will reveal to us when we linger that we will never discover when we rush. Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” God speaks, but we have to learn to recognize His voice.

There are three things we need to remember about His voice. First, His voice will agree with His Word. The Holy Spirit will not lead us contrary to what God has already revealed in Scripture. Second, His voice will challenge our flesh. God is not limited to telling us what is comfortable, convenient, or easy. Third, His voice will call us beyond our comfort zone. He will lead us into places where faith becomes necessary and where we must depend upon Him.

Sometimes the problem is not that God is not speaking. The problem is that we are already moving. We have already made the decision, chosen the direction, and decided what we think should happen. Then we ask God to bless what we have already decided to do. Sometimes we are so anxious to get to the next destination that we leave the place where God is trying to speak to us. There are times when we need to become still. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Being still does not mean doing nothing with our lives. It means becoming quiet enough before God that our activity flows from His direction instead of our activity replacing His direction. Remember, we can be moving fast and still be moving without direction.

The Holy Spirit dwells within every believer to draw us into deeper fellowship with the Father in the Throne Room. We are not trying to communicate with a distant God. Jesus said in John 14:26 that the Holy Spirit is our Helper and Teacher. He teaches us and brings to remembrance what Jesus has spoken. First John 2:27 tells us that His anointing abides within us and teaches us. We do not know everything. The Bible says we know in part, and there are things about our journey, calling, assignment, and future that require us to depend upon the Holy Spirit.

Think of it this way: we have a map, which is the Word of God, but the Holy Spirit is our Teacher and Guide. Imagine visiting a place you have never been. You can have a map of the entire area, but a guide who knows the territory can show you where to go, when to turn, what to notice, and what to avoid. The Holy Spirit does not replace the Word. He teaches us, leads us, and guides us in agreement with the Word.

Much of His leading happens through what we call the inward witness. Colossians 3:15 tells us to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. First Corinthians 2:6–16 gives us an incredible picture of what happens within the believer. The Spirit searches the deep things of God and reveals spiritual truth to us. We do not have to chase a voice from heaven when the Spirit of God lives within us. The main way God leads us is through that inward witness, which will always agree with His Word. We also should not be shocked when He confirms what He has already been speaking within us.

I have experienced this time after time in my own life. There have been moments when frustration became intense and I wanted to quit. I have beaten on the steering wheel and said, “I quit!” Yet God kept dealing with me. He kept leading me. He kept confirming what He had already placed within me. That is one of the reasons I am not quitting right now. When we learn to linger, we become better positioned to listen. When we listen, God begins preparing us for what comes next.

Launch Into the Harvest

Jesus did not linger in the Father’s presence so He could remain disconnected from hurting people. His fellowship with the Father launched Him into His Father’s business. Luke 2:49 records His words: “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” There comes a time to linger, there comes a time to listen, and then there comes a time to launch.

If we linger with the Father long enough, His heart for hurting people will start becoming our heart. Matthew 9:36 says that when Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Jesus did not merely see a crowd; He saw hurting people. He saw broken people. He saw people who needed a shepherd. Luke 4:18 reveals that same heart as Jesus spoke about good news to the poor, healing for the brokenhearted, freedom for the captives, and liberty for those who were oppressed. This is the Father’s business.

I believe when we are born again, we are born with our purpose written on our new hearts. We were not saved simply to sit around waiting for heaven. God has an assignment for our lives. At some point, we have to put childish things away and recognize that there are hurting people around us and there is a harvest before us. There are people waiting on the other side of our obedience.

One of the most important lessons from Luke 2 is easy to miss. Everybody was traveling in the same direction except Jesus. That gives us something we need to remember: just because everybody is going in the same direction doesn’t mean Jesus is going with them. The crowd does not determine our assignment. Popularity does not determine our assignment. Culture does not determine our assignment. Even what worked during our last season does not automatically determine our next assignment.

Jesus said in John 4:34–35 that His food was to do the will of the One who sent Him and to finish His work. Then He directed His disciples’ attention toward the harvest. Jesus launched. He knew He had an assigned task. We have assignments too. There are seasons in our lives, and when one season finishes, the Holy Spirit leads us toward where we are supposed to be for the next. All along the way, we are walking in the purpose God has established for us.

That means we cannot simply copy somebody else’s assignment. We have to hear God concerning ours. We are called to occupy until He comes. There is work to do, people to reach, lives to touch, and a harvest before us. But we cannot know where to launch if we never take time to listen, and we will struggle to listen if we refuse to linger.

Everybody Has a Corner to Carry

Our assignment may be individual, but the harvest was never designed to be gathered alone. Romans 12:4–5 teaches that there are many members in one body and that all the members do not have the same function. That is not a weakness; that is God’s design. We do not need everybody doing the same thing. We need everybody carrying their corner.

I think about our Café outreach and the picture of people working together with a tarp. One person cannot effectively carry every corner at once. Everybody has a place, and everybody has a responsibility. One person may preach while another serves food. Another may pray. Another may welcome somebody everyone else overlooked. Another may give financially. Another may disciple. Another may sit beside a hurting person and listen. We have different assignments, but we are part of the same mission.

Reaching hurting and broken people takes a team. It takes tenacity. It takes time. And most importantly, it takes the Teacher—the Holy Spirit—leading us. Our assignment is individual, but our mission is collective. God has given each of us a corner to carry, and when the Body of Christ works together, we can accomplish things none of us could accomplish alone.

Are We Too Busy to Hear?

Maybe the question for us today is not whether we are doing enough. Maybe the question is whether we are hearing clearly. Are we so busy that we are missing what God is saying? Are we lingering in the Father’s presence, or are we lingering everywhere else? Have the voices of the crowd become louder than Christ? Are we allowing the Holy Spirit to recalibrate our hearts, minds, attitudes, and priorities? Are we listening for His direction before we launch into our next season?

Jesus said, “I must be about My Father’s business.” We should desire to say the same thing, but being about our Father’s business begins by being with our Father. Linger in His presence long enough for the distractions to lose their volume and for your heart to become calibrated again. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Allow Him to teach you, guide you, and confirm His direction in agreement with His Word. Then launch. Go after the hurting. Step into your assignment. Carry your corner. Join with the Body of Christ and participate in the harvest God has placed before us.

The world does not need more Christians who are simply busy. It needs believers who have been with the Father, heard the Spirit, and know where they have been sent. Linger. Listen. Launch. And let’s be about our Father’s business.

Love Pastor Steve