"Don't Just Do Something: Stand There!"

I used to hate this sentence -- and many others like it:

"Don't just do something -- stand there!"

"We are human beings, not human doings!"

"Calm down, man!"

"Take a chill pill."

How could I calm down, I thought. If I try to calm down, then I just get worked up.

I have since then learned about the power of meta-thinking, meta-thoughts, the positive inputs which can swallow bad thoughts up, push them aside, reduce them to nothing.

If you struggle with a set of "stinking thinking," God the Father, who wants us to prosper even as our soul -- mind, will, and emotions -- prospers, will give us the insight that we need:

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1: 5)

We can be sure that God will answer our prayers, because:

"And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." (1 John 5: 15)

When we come before God, we come in the name, the authority of His Son Jesus Christ, making us a son of God through Him (John 1: 12), and an heir of God with Christ (Romans 8: 17)

We have this consummate power because we have His identity:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. " (1 John 4: 17)

Jesus has called for us to abide in Him:

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15: 4-5)

Well did Moses command the Israelites to stand back and trust in the Lord:

"And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever." (Exodus 14: 13)

Even in the celebrated Psalm 37, the writer counsels to trust and rest in Him:

"Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

"For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

"Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

"Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." (Psalm 37: 1-5)

Do not worry about what other people are doing. They are going down -- the Lord is taking care of it. Instead, wait upon Him with expectation of good things -- for hope in Him does not disappoint (Romans 5: 5). Delight in the Lord by delighting in His mercy, that He has forgiven all of our sins (Micah 7: 18)

We commit our ways to the Lord through the Holy Spirit, who leads us (Galatians 5: 16-18). Christ lives in us, granting us direction and His glory in all that we do.

The one work that every believer is called to do is believe on Him (John 6: 29). Instead of running around frantically when you do not know what to do, trust in Him, meditate on His grace in your life, and He will quicken you in the way to go!