01 September 2012

still, not stuck


we are a people of action.  we love to be doing.  social network updates are rife with declarations of activities, causes undertaken, places visited, life goals accomplished.  there is nothing inherently wrong with getting things done, i suppose, but i wonder if, and here i turn my eye to the church, to Christ-followers, we haven’t become so addicted to acting that we’ve forgotten the importance of being acted upon.

certainly God calls us to do things.  the great commission is about going, and there are numerous exhortations to feeding hungry people, clothing the naked, and so on.  love, as dcTalk reminded us, is a verb.  yet that’s not the whole story.  God is also the God who, though he didn’t really need to, took a day off.  Jesus was always trying to get away from the crowds, and when that didn't work, he got up before anybody else so that he could be alone with God.

i have found myself of late repeatedly asking God what he wants me to do. there are times when i feel like i'm living out the U2 song, completely stuck in a moment i can't get out of.  but there's stuck, and then there's still. and i feel like God isn't so much telling me to do something, but waiting for me to allow something to be done to me, in me.  something only he can do. it's like when the dentist or the doctor tells you to lay still so they can work.  to extend the metaphor logically, i don't mean to say that God needs me to stop moving around or else he'll make a mistake. rather, i think he wants me to be still because in my stillness i am confessing one of the great and most difficult truths of our faith: God knows better what i need than i do.

we do because we think we know. we act because we're convinced we've charted the right course, made the best decision, formed the surest plan. we are, however, to paraphrase the late rich mullins, not as right or sure or strong as we think we are.

it may not be for always, and it may not be for now, but when you hear the call, i encourage you to heed it: be still.  cease to act, and ask for the courage and the grace and the good sense to allow yourself to be acted upon.

it is God who has begun the work, and God who will keep it...

11 comments:

  1. Looking forward to the next post already :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad i read Lori's tweet and this blog. More pelase.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks so much, lance. I've written before in fits and starts, but never with much consistency. hopefully with lori's coaching and indefatigable support I can make something of a go of it this time.

      I appreciate you taking the time to stop by. - s

      Delete
  3. great post! its really hard to get out of our own way isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. getting out of my own way has been a struggle of mine my whole life. ultimately, it comes from the difficulty i have believing that God loves me, even likes me, just the way i am in this moment. the stillness that comes from that sort of understanding is invaluable, albeit elusive.

      thanks so much for stopping by, paul, and in all things, peace - s.

      Delete
  4. I love this perspective on being still. I needed the reminder today that stillness can be a powerful thing when you are letting God work in you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks, tracie. it's tricky sometimes, isn't it? there are extremes on either side, for sure. some people are so still they're lazy, while others can't stop moving long enough to remember why they started 'doing' in the first place. watchman nee wrote a book called (i think) 'sit, stand, walk' that explores this idea beautifully.

      thanks again for stopping by - s.

      Delete
  5. Awesome Steve. Thanks. I am so glad Lori came up on my facebook feed with this link! Now to get off of facebook and be still!
    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks to you, erin, for stopping by. i truly appreciate it. lori and i always joke about how a few minutes on facebook, twitter, or the like can turn into hours without us even noticing. sometimes being still is more work than being in motion. thankfully there's grace for it, grace for it all... - s.

      Delete
  6. SM,
    Stuck in that moment myself...I think it's more like a year and not a moment though. Be still? Oh, it goes against the grain of who I am, but I will try.

    Glad to see you back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i'll see your year and raise you three more! it's an interesting point to consider, though, isn't it? at nearly every turn, God seems intent on reminding us - well, reminding me, anyway - that his sense of time is not the same as ours. God is working in us, through us, for us, but his schedule so often seem asynchronous.

      i take comfort in knowing he knows what he's doing, and that the stuck moments are no less important, and needn't be any less fruitful.

      thank for stopping by, and for the encouragement - s.

      Delete