By: Heather Shoffstall, Director of Student Ministries

We have been challenged for the past four weeks to “Do Good.” We were given a calendar to use to do a small act of kindness daily for a month. These small acts of kindness challenged us to live before the Lord instead of in the busyness that engulfs us daily. We are in a modern dilemma of busyness that tempts us to elevate doing over being. That getting all the stuff done will somehow fill the spiritual void that we sometimes feel in our lives.

In the book Conformed to His Image – Biblical, Practical Approaches to Spiritual Formation, Kenneth Boa spends a chapter addressing the Being Versus Doing Spiritual Practice. The book explores 12 different facets of Spirituality and how we can practice these on our spiritual journeys.

Boa describes that “Life for many people in the business world has been colorfully described as a matter of “blowing and going,” “plotting and planning,” “ducking and diving,” “running and gunning,” “slamming and jamming,” “moving and shaking,”” juking and jiving.” We have a problem with busyness; if our schedules are not full, we are not living. We spend very little time in the silence, just being with God.

As I sit and write this blog at the window of my home office, I have no music playing, just the sounds of the world around me coming in my window. The blessings of the beauty of this day surround me and I realize that I do not take enough time to just sit and soak in the day that God has given to me. I do not take enough time to dig into God Word for my own soul, instead of looking at His Word through the lens of teaching. “While the greatest commandment exhorts us to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30), we tend to reverse the order, thinking we can go from the outside in rather than the inside out. Instead of ministry flowing out of our relationship with God, many people suppose that ministry will determine their relationship with God.” Boa

So, how can we go from Doing to Being? What practical measures can we take to reduce the problem of busyness?

Prayer – start with an attitude of prayer. Pray throughout the day as you work, run errands, cook dinner. A simple prayer of “Thank you, Jesus.”
Cultivate a “seeing eye” – Look for God’s beauty in the world around you. The birds singing, puffy white clouds, the turning colors of the leaves; savor them all and praise God for each.
Relish the present – We tend to live our lives in the future and do not take time to realize that Jesus is with you in this moment. “Be strong and courageous; don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For the Lord your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave you or abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 CSB

Intimacy and activity, solitude and engagement, interior and exterior, calling and character, rest and work – both sides of each of these are important to a balanced life of being and doing. Sit in the silence with God and allow Him to fill the voids instead of the busyness of life.