Be Still But Don't Do Nothing!!!

I watched the new Karate Kid with my two teenaged daughters yesterday. I know, I know, I’m way late to the party. Truth is we kept putting it off so my wife, Sola, could go with us until I realized that we might end up putting it off till it’s released on Blu-Ray. I loved hanging out with my girls and hearing their take on the movie. It warmed my heart to hear their interpretations of the myriad life applications that were liberally sprinkled throughout the movie.

Here’s what stood out to me as my favorite scene: I absolutely loved the scene where the female martial arts practitioner at the top of the mountain was totally dominating and controlling a venomous king cobra! Cobras are known to be able to spit out a steady stream of venom for up to six feet yet this woman was within inches of its head. Even before Mr. Hun called Dre’s attention to the fact that it wasn’t the lady following the cobras movements but the other way around, I’d picked up on that fact (yeah I deserve a shout out). Then he uttered the provocatively profound statement, “Being still and doing nothing are not the same thing.” I love that line! Too many of us Christ-followers often interpret God’s command to, “Be still and know that I am God,” as a command to do nothing, when, in actual fact it is a call to quiet your troubled mind and spirit and trust in and completely rely on God.

I’ve known something of this quite literally over the last four or five years, and I can personally attest to the fact that Mr. Hun certainly knows what he’s talking about. It takes living through the circumstances and obstacles that life throws your way to provide real opportunities for you to quiet your mind and trust in God’s faithfulness and ability to deliver you. So, while your circumstances certainly might require you to actively pursue a certain solution, you can be still in the midst of them, knowing that God is actively at work in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. Oh, by the way, jacket on, jacket off is the new wax on, wax off!