I saw a bumper sticker earlier this week that read: JESUS IS COMING…LOOK BUSY!
So I began to think about the importance of being busy about my Father’s work. My natural tendency is to be busy—about something…anything. Sometimes my busyness is the thing that “easily entangles” me [Hebrews 12.1]. Others’ natural tendency may be to “veg out,” feeling grateful to know we are neither required nor capable of “earning” our way into heaven. Many find themselves resting on that assurance.
Back in the 70s there was a popular mantra in the air that went something like this: “Be a human being, not a human doing.” It had a catchy ring to it, and I think it caught on for many reasons, one being that it offered a valid excuse for checking out of mainstream society.
It was around the time of the “make love, not war” love-cry in the air. It was a time when iridescent posters glowed in the black light of weed-smoke-filled head shops, serenaded by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead. Back then I enjoyed strolling the streets in Old Town, Chicago, with the scent of incense in the air, basking in the afterglow of love and peace.
“Far out, man.”
And there’s some truth to the mantra of being rather than doing. It’s easy to get so caught up in the frenzy of doing that we lose the art of being.
But it’s not an either/or kind of thing. It’s both/and…both being and doing.
We are designed to be human beings doing the things we were created to do… “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” [Ephesians 2.10]. It amazes me that God has invited us to participate in his kingdom plan. We sometimes call it being “the hands and feet of Jesus.” So much of what God wants to do about the needs of his people happens through his people.
And there are times when God will accomplish what he wants accomplished without involving us at all. It’s easy to lose our place in the plan—exaggerating our importance– acting as if we believe we’re more vital in the grand scheme of things than we actually are. So our Creator also reminds us to “Be still, and know that I am God!” [Psalm 46.10]. One version puts it this way… “Cease striving…” [NASB]. In other words, God reminds us “I’ve got this. Step back from all your activities, cease the frenzied pace, and rest in My sufficiency.”
We serve most effectively when we’re resting in the sufficiency of God. Our soul is most deeply satisfied when “in all our ways we acknowledge him” [Proverbs 3.6] as the source of all we are. We are nourished as we live in alignment with his calling and purpose in our lives, just as Jesus said, “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work” [John 4.34].
We experience deep satisfaction as we participate with God in his kingdom plan. We discover peace that boggles human understanding when we rest in his sufficiency…remembering that “God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” [Philippians 1.6].
We are human beings doing life with God…both when we are resting in him, and when we are busy about the work of his kingdom in our day-to-day lives.
Jesus is coming. Be found doing life with him…and fulfilling your role as a member of his body.
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Rod & Rose 