Don’t Do Something; Just Stand There!

The Christian Working Woman

Do you know what is probably the most difficult command of God's for me to obey? It's "Stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!" (1 Samuel 12:16). Come on, Lord; why "stand still"? Why not "Get busy and do this and that and then you'll see the great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes"? That would be so much easier for me. As I mentioned, I don't like standing still. I hate standing still. I love movement. I love busyness. I love activity. I love to-do lists. Let's go; let's do; let's make things happen. You can do it. Just keep trying. Keep on keepin' on. Those words are music to my ears, but not "stand still.” Why is it so hard for us to take our hands off and let God run the show? Well, to answer that question for myself, I would say it's hard for me to stand still because I'm a controller. I want to be in charge. That's my personality and I'm much more comfortable when I'm running things than when I'm having to take orders. My guess is you may be the same way. I'd rather drive than be a passenger; I'd rather give a presentation than listen to one; I'd rather lead than follow. So, I constantly struggle to take control of any situation I'm in. Therefore, "stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes" is hard for me to do. When you dig a little deeper under that personality trait, you discover that the need to control indicates you think you can do it better than anybody else and you don't trust others as much as you do yourself. Ouch! There's a lot of pride and sinfulness tucked in that controlling spirit, isn't there? That's hard to take, but it's part of the truth we have to face about ourselves. At one point in my life when I was going through a particularly difficult period of "standing still," I would get frustrated and start to take action. And each time, as I would start taking the controls back in my own hands, I would hear the quiet voice of God in my mind saying to me, quite simply, "Can't you trust me?” That's what it takes to stand still—it takes trust. And when you and I are willing to take our hands off, give up the control, and stand still, we are saying to Jesus, "I trust you. You're smarter than me. You can run this show better than I can.” And when we stand still and demonstrate our faith in him, he is pleased. Another reason standing still is hard for me is that I'm just not a patient person. I want things to happen now. I hate waiting. My mind tells me, "If you're standing still, nothing is happening.” But God's Word says, "Stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes.” I think one reason I am not a patient person is because I hate loose ends. I want to complete the loop and make sure every package has a neat bow on it before moving on. But so often life is full of loose ends, and we have to stand still and let them be. Paul wrote that patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit, one of the evidences that God's Spirit is in control of your life. Well, I can sure tell you that when I am patient, it is not me, it is God's Spirit in me, because I'm no good at being patient. But I’ve learned to pray a lot about being patient, and believe it or not, I am more patient today than I used to be. God is helping me learn how to stand still and let him do it! Here are some little secrets that are helping me learn how to stand still. When you are emotional about any situation, it is not the time to act. Stand still until your emotions have calmed down and you can be certain that you're thinking straight. Just today I dashed off an email to tell someone how to do something more effectively—or so I thought—but thankfully before I hit the send button, God’s Spirit just urged me not to send it. So, for once I didn’t let the emotional reaction of the moment cause me to do something without thought or prayer. Often we really want to do something when we're upset or angry,