Lesson 4

Lesson 4: “Being with God is more important than doing for God”

My suspicion is that MAF people in the main tend to be activists – that is, we like to get on and get stuff done. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting stuff done – but like with all things in life, we need to find the right balance.

Nowadays, with all the ‘enabling’ technology that is available, we can do even more. We can be more efficient - doing multiple things at once, and doing all the things that were once only possible at an office desk anywhere, at any time. It is so easy to get sucked into the ‘vortex of busy’ – and suddenly all that efficiency means we actually have no really free time at all.

I believe that God has given us all work to do, but I don’t think that the reason He created the world and people was because he needed a hand getting stuff done. I believe He created us for relationship with Him. And as Christians working in MAF we believe that we are working with Him and for His glory – but the question is, do we still have time for Him?

When Martha got overly busy with the work and started resenting her sister ‘just’ spending time with Jesus, He said, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it…”

When was the last time you spent time just ‘being’ with God? I’m not talking about a ‘quiet’ time where you squeeze in a few Bible verses and a quick prayer, but really being with God. Just spending time in His presence – not even speaking, but just spending time together.

It’s a discipline that I still really struggle with - it takes time and effort to get somewhere quiet, to be still and to clear your mind of the stuff that swirls around in it. But it’s what we were created for, and it’s absolutely worth it.