Do Nothing |
|
Elder
Phillip N. Conley |
Evening
Thoughts
All my
life, I have been blessed to live in the church: being
brought as a babe, a member for 30 years, and a minister for
the last 15. There likely has never been a greater charge
leveled at the Lord's bride in my lifetime - or perhaps ever
- than, "If I believed what you believed, I wouldn't do
anything" or "I'd just live any old way that I wanted to."
Paul dealt with a similar mentality. (Romans 3:1-8) When
someone is faithful in their belief to the doctrines of
grace, the sovereignty of God, and the utter inability of
man by nature to please God, this seems to be the natural
and common reaction from people in general. In years past
when I was younger and hotter-headed, I would try to draw
and quarter my opponent with verbal arguments. As I got
older and wiser, I tried to hone and shape my points and
illustrations that made easy to follow corollaries. As I
have gotten even older - perhaps wiser but certainly more
tired - I have generally smiled and said something to the
effect, "I am living like I want to." I do wish I had the
silver bullet that would answer this charge and cure this
thinking.
Scripture reveals several points that we might think of as
doing nothing. Sometimes it talks of rest, other times of
being still, and yet others at waiting. In nature, stillness
might indicate nothing's happening. In life, rest and
waiting could yield periods of zero activity. However,
looking at the rich foundation that we have through His
amazing grace, each of these seemingly do nothing "actions"
actually tends to great and directed behavior.
Rest in Scripture bespeaks less of sleep but rather in
stopping an activity because of its completion or
fulfillment. God rested the 7th day from His labours not
because He needed sleep or was weary but because the work of
creation was complete. We are told that He will rest in His
love. (Zephaniah 3:17) As a Being who rests Himself, He also
affords us opportunities to rest as well. Questions. When
God rested from creation, did He do nothing? When He rests
in His love, does He do nothing? The creation remains
because He still upholds it by the word of His power. With
His love abiding, He rests in the perfection of it that is
still ongoing. Simply put, God's rest is not a license of no
activity but a rich example of how rest is put in proper
practice.
You and
I need rest in ways that do not affect the Almighty. The
rest we can take helps clear the mind, uplift the soul, and
revive the spirit. When Satan and the world unceasingly
assault our minds and hearts, we need to rest in the same
things that God has and does. Does God love us? Will He
always love us? Yes and yes. (Jeremiah 31:3) When all around
goes off kilter, the anchoring point centers around an
unchanging attribute of God that abides continually. As the
poet said, "When change and decay in all around I see, O
Thou who changest not, abide with me." We can rest like
this when we stand as we should and walk as we should.
(Jeremiah 6:16) This rest is found rather than just given,
and we have been afforded multitudes of opportunity to rest
in God's abiding steadfastness to us that we can actually
find more and more.
Living in this hurry-scurry world, waiting is something that
none of us enjoy doing. We hate long lines, and evidences of
patience in this world seem to wan in so many ways. Through
the years, I get tickled when I watch my children look out
the windows waiting for company when they are expected. It
reminds me of us as children. After what seems like forever
for them, they plead, "When will they be here? It's taking
forever!" Silly me used to encourage them to read a book or
something to take their mind off it! Distractions abounded,
and it backfired on me. So, I tried a different tact. I
started asking them questions about what they thought we
would do when the company arrived. With eyes that lit and
words that soared, they described in detail what they hoped
to do with company. In this way, their wait was filled with
thoughts of coming happiness and "speeding" it along till it
happened.
Scripture encourages us to wait on the Lord amongst other
things. (Isaiah 40:31) This waiting time is not a "thumb
twiddling" session as many think when picturing waiting -
such as the doctor's office. It is also not a free
opportunity to indulge in the distractions of the world.
Rather patient waiting is an act of faith that what God has
promised, He is able also to perform. Rather than tap our
foot mumbling, "Where in the world is He?", we simply put
our minds and hearts into the gear of what we expect to do
when with Him. If we are looking to meet Him in His courts
of worship, what kind of time will we have? If we are seeing
our own mortality and nearing our end, what kind of time
will we have in His home? If we are about to face some
serious difficulties, temptations, and strife, what kind of
battle will we fight side-by-side? Waiting upon Him is not
waiting "for" Him. Some have the idea that waiting upon the
Lord is like waiting for someone to get back from town. We
are with Him, in Him, and on Him right now. We move because
He moves, and we stop because He stops. That is truly
waiting "upon" Him.
Stillness is perhaps the hardest of these three areas since
even people "doing nothing" are rarely doing nothing. Minds
can race, hearts can melt, and bodies in motion tend to stay
in motion. My ears still hurt today when I think about
thumpings they took for not being still in church. The
Psalmist told us to "be still" and Moses told the
congregation to "stand still." (Psalm 46:10, Exodus 14:13)
In both cases, the stillness was not for no purpose. It was
to derive benefit from something that could not be attained
otherwise. Had the children of Israel tried to flee from the
banks of the Red Sea - even though there was nowhere to go -
beholding the great sight would have been out of view. The
command to stand still was for the benefit to see this great
sight. When we aren't still in our spirits, we can forget
that He is God like we will when we are still. Stillness in
this case instructs us to remember how great and mighty He
truly is. No matter the mountain in front of you, He's
higher. No matter the demon battling you, He is stronger.
And no matter the unfaithfulness of our own core, He is
faithful in all things to the end.
In rest, waiting, and stillness, we are not invited nor
encouraged to do nothing. Rather, we are "taking a pause"
from the rat race of life in all her courses to engage in
something fruitful and profitable. Rest for our souls is
found in standing in the ways to see and asking for the old
paths. Waiting upon the Lord tends to renewed strength to
continue on in this slalom. Being still, helps remind us of
what is important and where our benefits truly come from.
Take a pause friends. Contemplate on His goodness and recall
to mind His salvation. Breathe slowly and listen to the
beats of your own heart and reflect that our times are in
His hand. In Him we live, move, and have our being. When
dark clouds come and temptations arise, center the mind on
things of light, and the darkness will flee from it.
Friends, we have the best thing in the world to rest in. We
have the greatest strength to wait upon, and we have the
highest thoughts to contemplate during stillness. I
sometimes wonder how I would do if I had means. It's
something I don't ponder often or for too long as I don't
expect to ever live it. However, what would someone call you
if you had means, money, and opportunity and yet lived like
a pauper? Would they call you a miser? Scrooge? Covetous? We
may not have silver and gold beloved, but what we have is
the greatest treasure this side of heaven. We have the
knowledge of eternal life, how we got it, and place to
fervently worship Him because of it. When I put on the
beggar's clothes of this world, I really am doing nothing:
nothing of real value and consequence. When I feel sorry for
myself or incessantly accuse myself, I am doing nothing that
amounts to a whole lot in the end. However, when my rest,
waiting, and stillness centers on His unshakeable character,
His boundless love, and His steadfast promises, I feel like
a rich babe making a withdrawal from an ocean of funds. As
another poet said about our reaction to the glorious work He
performed for us and to us, "Then give all the glory to His
holy name, to Him all the glory belongs. Be yours the high
joy to sound forth His great fame, and crown Him in each of
your songs." |