Learning to BE vs. DO has been one of the harder things that I’ve tried to learn. Part of it is the built-in feeling &/or need to respond or take action because DOING something is seen as exponentially better than DOING nothing. This is especially “true” when it seems that DOING nothing means inactivity & is an indicator of apathy.
Not so fast – DOING is based in me & my resources – BEING is dependent on the resources, power, authority, & inclination of One greater. BEING is a reminder that I am not my own, & that I have a MAKER & a MASTER.
In this current onslaught of wickedness, sickness, hopelessness, despair, fear & intimidation, I am to BE STILL. My actions, my responses, my best attempts at DOING will not bring about God’s righteousness, or fulfill His plan for me & mine. BEING STILL means full reliance on my ROCK & my FORTRESS, my DELIVERER, my HEALER. My God.
Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
6 The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD;
see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth.”
11 The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Selah
sorry the above comment was mine and i had to change a few things.
selah- pause and take note, oh so important with those verses to really take it all in.
to (BE) when the world is falling in around you is not easy. remembering to pray seems to be easier because in times when i need help i ask for it, but then waiting (BE STILL)that is where it gets difficult for me. being still is where i get to see God move but most times i get in there and screw things up and then He has to come and fix them.
I agree with the difficulty of sitting and BEing. It is ironic to me how many times a day I shout ELI or KYLE…DUDE CHILL OUT! RELAX. or SIMMER DOWN! (my fav.) and yet I struggle completely. Sherry P. stood in church and talked about the struggles we come against. God brought to mind immediately a verse also out of Psalms. It is good to be afflicted. It turns you back to God. (Shontells, paraphrase of NIV) I suppose I should have stood up and shared that, but I am one of those who thinks most don’t want to hear what I have to say in the middle of church. I am never faith filled enough to believe those thoughts came from God or that he is calling me to interupt and share. Otherwise he would have made me Pastor Shontell. Someday, I am sure, but not today.
Thanks for sharing this… My biggest struggle with just BEing is that it’s really hard to BE rather than do when I’ve fallen yet again into believing the lie that everything that is wrong in my life is MY FAULT. So, since it’s MY FAULT, I have to be the one to fix it–as if I am the God of my life. I just need to be smacked in the head and reminded every once in a while that if I can just BE, then I’m leaving room for God to fix me/my life.
I really like how the first verse reads in The Message. It says “God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.” If we can just remember to think of God as a safe hiding place when the things of this world get to be too much for us to bear, then we can begin to just BE.
I think another aspect for me is to spend time “being” who God created me to be as opposed to “doing” everything I can to become something else . . .
I have noticed there is so much more peace when just being. I have enjoyed taking in the solitude and liberation that just being gives. We are such a results oriented society and it requires so much doing. It’s life sapping. Wise words Louie.