Just Don’t©
- Holly Younghans
- May 14, 2023
- 7 min read
By Holly M. Younghans
For the heartbeat of this reflection, I am indebted to the purveyors of prayers posted in the YouVersion Bible App.
There a famous athletic shoe company who has an equally famous “swooshy” logo and a tagline that says “Just do it.” Said phrase has been applied to an untold number of situations where people use it as a rallying cry to try, make it happen, switch it up, make it so, and so on.
When it comes to the idea of being still and knowing He is God, that tagline is such an easy thing to say. Just be still. Just know. Just do it. Hah! Easy to say; hard to do.
I was recently inspired by a prayer on the YouVersion Bible App which was focused on the idea of trusting God no matter what. The prayer made some statements that really resonated with me; perhaps they resonate with you as well. The prayer, in part, went like this:
“Be still. Don’t compromise your promise by refusing to wait on God in the still place… Get all that God has for you by simply enjoying the still and holding onto his promises. Don’t move. Don’t doubt. Don’t complain. Don’t strategize. Simply be still and wait…”
I want to dig into the four “don’t” statements because I am inclined to do the exact opposite. Maybe you are too.
DON’T MOVE.
This means don’t be in such a hurry to take action. When we really want something to happen, we can be far too quick to act too quickly. It takes courage to hold still. It takes faith to wait. Movement can feel like change, but the wrong movement can bring the wrong kind of change and/or set us off in the wrong direction.
Movement without facts, movement without counsel, movement without prayer, movement without a sense of peace, or at least the absence of anxiety, is movement for the sake of itself. Hasty movement means we are in the driver’s seat, we are seeking to control the situation and/or the outcome.
How often do we think we know exactly what needs to be done only to discover we have gotten it wrong. This can be a strong temptation when we see others getting ahead in some lane of life to which we attach importance, that consciously or unconsciously defines our value and worth, demonstrates “success” to others or to ourselves. But, moving without assurance from God is ultimately rooted in a conceited independence that disregards what God may be doing. It may also be driven by a FOMO (fear of missing out) that reveals a lack of trust in the divine knowledge and goodness of our Lord.
The Psalms have a great deal to say on this particular subject; these are just a few examples:
Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.
Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
They quickly forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,
My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen for the morning;
Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
You get the point: WAIT. Don’t move. Not without God. But such waiting is not meant to be passive. If you must move, move in prayer (on one’s knees, prostrate, heads bowed, hands open, etc.), move in worship (literally), move in praise and thanksgiving (literally). Move toward God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Just don’t move away from him or without him.
One caveat I feel compelled to explicitly state though I would hope it would be obvious: don’t fail to move if your life or the life of those you are responsible for is/are actually in danger. I am by no means advocating that an abuse victim stay put because s/he feels like s/he cannot move unless God sends a letter or writes his directions on a wall. I will go so far as to say that I would insist on a letter or a disembodied hand telling such a person to stay in such a situation. Notwithstanding personal abuse or familial violence, there are saints around the world who choose to stay in harm’s way for the sake of the gospel, but these are singular men and women who clearly hear God guiding them in the midst of persecution to suffer for the sake of Christ in ways most of us will never have to face. Should that change, the teaching applies: don’t move. Not without God.
DON’T DOUBT
This one is a doozy of a “don’t.” It’s the one most of us struggle with much of the time: “Did I hear God correctly? Did I hear him at all? Is that just me making stuff up in my mind? Is it the enemy leading me astray? How do I know? How can I tell?” And the litany of questions goes on and on.
Often this particular “don’t” takes sheer willpower to CHOOSE to believe in a God who loves us and wants what’s best for us, even if the circumstances we are in at the moment really are just so not what we want right now… or at all… or ever. This is a choice of the heart and mind. This is a choice to hope in God no matter what, for no matter how long, no matter how much we want out of wherever we are, doing whatever we are. This is a choice of listening to the voice of God through the promises of his word and taking him at his word, even though every fiber of our being says to move (see above). Indeed, moving is often predicated on our doubts: doubts that we heard clearly, or at all; doubts that God said this or that; doubts that God actually notices or cares. Heads up: the God who knows how many hairs you have on your head (Luke 12:7), who collects your tears in a bottle (Psalm 56:8), from whom you cannot get away (Hebrews 4:13, Jeremiah 23:34, Psalm 139:7-10), who treasures you (Deuteronomy 7:6, Ephesians 2:10) DOES, in fact, notice, know, and care. We just have to decide it’s true and act accordingly.
Again, the Psalms remind us to place our hope and trust in God, who has repeatedly demonstrated his knowledge, skill, and ability to come through every single time, though rarely on our timetable or in the manner to which we would like to be accustomed.
Be strong and let your heart take courage,
All you who hope in the Lord
“And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in You.
My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait,
And in His word do I hope.
The opposite of doubt is faith. The close relative of faith is hope. It is an active, intentional choice to believe in the past evidence and the ever-present character of God. No matter what.
DON’T COMPLAIN
Ahhhh… the “don’t complain” requirement. Next to not doubting, this may be the second most difficult. One of my favorite replies to people who ask me how I’m doing is, “Can’t complain. But sometimes I do.” It usually gets a chuckle. But seriously, folks, just don’t. Don’t complain. Don’t whine. Don’t gripe. Don’t dress it up in prayer. Don’t gossip about it to your friends and family. “What is God waiting for? Haven’t I waited long enough? What was he thinking? Why did I uproot my life for this? What’s taking so long? I hate it here. I don’t know why he brought me here. I don’t fit in. I don’t make a difference. I don’t have what it takes to keep up/contribute/yada yada yada.”
It is so easy to ride this downward spiral and to spill such poison on others.
Do you remember the people of Israel? You can read their story in the Old Testament, starting in the book of Exodus. One theme that comes shining through – and not in a good way – is that they complained and grumbled ALL the time! And God got sick of it. It is one thing to humbly bring our hurts and fears and concerns to God and leave them with him. I usually have to do it more than once to make sure things stay with him. However, it is quite another to literally criticize, nit-pick, nag, murmur and moan about the way God works. We don’t have to like it, but, we DO have to trust that he is actually good, truly loving, fully just, and unceasingly aware of who we are and what we are going through. If you don’t actually trust him, then why are you following him?
Philippians 2:14 says it best: “Do everything without complaining and arguing” (NLT).
The context of this verse is all about having the attitude of Jesus in what we say and do. Jesus never once complained about anything in his earthly life. He got righteously angry a time or two, but he never complained, not even when he was facing and later dying on the cross. He wept and begged to be let out of the deal, but he did not complain. That’s the example we are to follow. Period.
DON’T STRATEGIZE
How often do we think we know exactly what needs to be done and we set off with all our plans and schedules and lists and things only to discover we have gotten it wrong? Doubting God leads to strategizing in my own limited wisdom and puny perspective, which can lead to moving. They are all interrelated.
We look at a situation and start deciding the best course of action in our minds before we’ve even taken the time to bring it to God and ask him about it. Such an action means we must slow our roll and choose to wait, perhaps for far longer than we’re comfortable with. We’re “Americans,” we get things done, we are shakers and movers and doers and dreamers, we can accomplish anything we set our minds to, we are captains of industry and masters of our own fate.”
It’s fine to be some of those things, if we shake and move and do and dream according to God’s purpose and plan. How do we know what that is? We ask. We wait. Actively. Doing what’s in front of us until confirmation comes or a door opens or whatever metaphor makes you happy. But until then, don’t strategize, do be still. Don’t complain. Do be quiet. Don’t move. Do wait. Don’t doubt. Do trust.
Easier said than done?
Yep.
Do it anyway.
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