Not doing something is hard work

I recall watching the new version of ‘Karate Kid 2010’.  The master Kung Fu artist is teaching his student how to be still.  His young student says, ‘but I want to be doing something’, to which the master responds, ‘Being still is not the same thing as doing nothing.’

How true that is in the Christian faith.  Some folks think they have to be busy to be of any value to the Lord.  But here’s the thing…being still is not the same thing as doing nothing.  It is anything but.  Being still can be an intense waiting upon God- a serious faithfulness to the leading of God’s spirit.  At times it can be just watching to see where God is at work so that we can join him there.  It takes practice to be still and to wait for God.

Stillness can mean not being anxious.  Try that out sometime.  Try letting go of the future and the past.  An old spiritual teacher Meister Eckhart once wrote. ‘time is our great obstacle to God.’  Living in the ‘now’, in the moment of stillness bring union with God.

Stillness is a work of faith.  It is the practice of the presence of God. It is God who says, BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD