Being and Doing
Corey Nieman / Spiritual Formation and College & Young Adults Ministry Assistant
The balance between being and doing in our faith is a hard one to strike. But I am convinced that when we get to that place God’s plan and purpose become clearer. Yet, too many times we run around trying things out, trying to eliminate possibilities, trying to adapt to what the world wants us to be. The enemy would love for us to believe that amidst all this confusion that there is no plan nor purpose, and he gets excited when we grow weary and confused. When we put doing ahead of being, we waste a ton of time and energy and sometimes can fall into false worship. For wherever we give our time, talent, and energy to we are, in a sense, siphoning away glory that is to be given to God.
For years I tried to find my purpose in what my parents wanted for my life, or what my friends wanted, or teachers, or what my girlfriend wanted, and realized I was not called to do any of those things. Yes, God wants us to be relational but not to the point where we become people-pleasers. Also, not to the point where we lose our identity. But still I tried a great many things and by process of elimination I came to the end of myself. I realized I could not find the answer through my own means. In college I rededicated myself to Christ and realized I had failed to find my purpose. So, I wrote down in my Bible that I believed God wanted me to have a wife, a career in ministry, and a family. I then surrendered those notions at the foot of the cross and wrote them in the back of my Bible and said, “Lord I will not pursue these matters without your direction.” I merely asked that He work on me until then and when I was ready, and these things were prepared, I would accept them as a gift. To this date, all three things have come to fruition and I give God all the glory for His orchestration.
To further illustrate, when I look at the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42 I am struck by why Christ did not care about all the preparation that went into His meeting with the sisters. It seems like Martha took the initiative to get their home prepped for Christ’s arrival and Mary just let her. But Jesus pointed out the fact that Martha was too anxious and distracted from all the doing and should have been less busy just sitting at the teacher’s feet, or in other words just being. So clearly being and doing were out of whack in this scenario. Many times, God does ask us to prepare things very meticulously ahead of a meeting, or trip, or battle, but the key is He prescribed it. As opposed to us running ahead of God and trying to anticipate all the “what ifs” … or being too far behind Him to catch up. He wants to put the puzzle of life together with us piece by piece.
The balance between being and doing in our faith is a hard one to strike. But I am convinced that when we get to that place God’s plan and purpose become clearer. Yet, too many times we run around trying things out, trying to eliminate possibilities, trying to adapt to what the world wants us to be. The enemy would love for us to believe that amidst all this confusion that there is no plan nor purpose, and he gets excited when we grow weary and confused. When we put doing ahead of being, we waste a ton of time and energy and sometimes can fall into false worship. For wherever we give our time, talent, and energy to we are, in a sense, siphoning away glory that is to be given to God.
For years I tried to find my purpose in what my parents wanted for my life, or what my friends wanted, or teachers, or what my girlfriend wanted, and realized I was not called to do any of those things. Yes, God wants us to be relational but not to the point where we become people-pleasers. Also, not to the point where we lose our identity. But still I tried a great many things and by process of elimination I came to the end of myself. I realized I could not find the answer through my own means. In college I rededicated myself to Christ and realized I had failed to find my purpose. So, I wrote down in my Bible that I believed God wanted me to have a wife, a career in ministry, and a family. I then surrendered those notions at the foot of the cross and wrote them in the back of my Bible and said, “Lord I will not pursue these matters without your direction.” I merely asked that He work on me until then and when I was ready, and these things were prepared, I would accept them as a gift. To this date, all three things have come to fruition and I give God all the glory for His orchestration.
To further illustrate, when I look at the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42 I am struck by why Christ did not care about all the preparation that went into His meeting with the sisters. It seems like Martha took the initiative to get their home prepped for Christ’s arrival and Mary just let her. But Jesus pointed out the fact that Martha was too anxious and distracted from all the doing and should have been less busy just sitting at the teacher’s feet, or in other words just being. So clearly being and doing were out of whack in this scenario. Many times, God does ask us to prepare things very meticulously ahead of a meeting, or trip, or battle, but the key is He prescribed it. As opposed to us running ahead of God and trying to anticipate all the “what ifs” … or being too far behind Him to catch up. He wants to put the puzzle of life together with us piece by piece.