The World Says, "Don't Just Stand There - Do Something!"

We like to think of ourselves as active participants in life, able to make our way in the world, in full control of our destiny. Our North American society paints the perfect person as a can-do individual who is filled with buoyant optimism and brimming with energy. This is, says our culture, a society in which you can make just about anything happen if you “set your mind to it.”

When it comes to dealing with the physical issues of life, there’s a lot of truth in our culture’s traditional, conventional axiom, “Don’t just STAND there – DO something!” However, there are times when no planning or hard work on our part (or anyone’s) can solve the crisis we may face.

* We find ourselves sitting next to a loved one, in a doctor’s office or later, in a hospital room, as they hear the news that they are in a life or death battle with a deadly disease. We wring our hands, it seems that there’s nothing we can DO. We realize that “all” we can do is pray. We say, “Okay, God, can you help me? I don’t think I can deal with this one.”

* We visit an aged parent in a care facility and attempt to engage them in conversation, but Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia has them in its grip, and the only response we receive is a blank stare. That blank stare of diminished capacity taunts us, “there’s nothing you can DO!”

* We talk with an adult child who is in the grip of a chemical addiction, and while they have been in recovery and detox programs, it seems that they can’t shake the influence and command the chemical has over their body. We think, “Was it something I did or failed to do when my child was growing up? Is their slavery to this chemical my fault?” At these times it seems like there’s nothing we can DO.

* There are times when we must deal with what the insurance industry calls “acts of God.” If you live in California, you feel like it’s just a matter of time until “The Big One.” If you live in Florida, or other states bordering the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic, you know that hurricane season may mean that your home is directly in the path of a destructive hurricane. If you live in the Midwest as I do, the same potential exists in tornado season. Acts of God make us think there is nothing we can DO.

A similar spiritual experience can take place, and will, if and when we embrace and accept God’s amazing grace. At first in our spiritual walk, much of Christianity attempts to persuade us that our relationship with God is up to us – that if regimented steps and instructions are followed then a desirable spiritual outcome will be realized.

We later come to realize that the control we once thought we had was just an illusion – a mirage in the desert. GOD’S GRACE TEACHES US THAT THE CONTROL OF OUR LIVES IS IN GOD’S HANDS. When it comes to our relationship with God, the worldly wisdom of “Don’t just stand there – DO something” becomes a convenient tool for religious authoritarianism to control us. When it comes to our relationship with God, we find eternal wisdom in the very opposite: DON’T JUST DO SOMETHING – STAND THERE!

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not about our DOING. It is not a command for us to save ourselves – that we should “DO something” to extricate ourselves from our sinful ways, and somehow ingratiate ourselves, by our obedience, to God. The gospel is about what God DOES – what He has done, is doing and will do. DON’T JUST DO SOMETHING – STAND THERE!

As Christians we are in the same spiritual dilemma as the nation of Israel at the Exodus, with the mountains surrounding us, the sea in front of us and the army of Pharaoh pursuing us. We cannot save ourselves. Yes, we must walk forward in and with Him. But our decision to trust in Him and follow Him is not one and the same as saving ourselves. We cannot part the Red Seas of our lives. We must STAND in God’s grace. We must allow Him to do for us what we can never DO.

Before we can do anything of eternal consequence, or rather, before God can do anything of eternal consequence through us, we must STAND still long enough to 1) focus on Jesus, the Captain of our salvation, 2) receive His rest and grace and 3) enable God to transform us by a growing realization that Jesus lives right within us and He provides for us when we trust in Him.

When God says in His Word, “Be still and know that I am God!”, He is also saying, “DON’T JUST DO SOMETHING, STAND THERE!” And then you will see how God works in your life.

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