Nancy Hughes: Doing nothin'

“He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.”

II Kings 22:2 (NIV)


Michael was one of my favorite middle school students. He was polite, always smiling and respectful to his instructors. But I was frustrated with him, too, because Michael had a zero motivation to learn. Not a 50% desire or even 5% but zero.

He did nothing in the classroom. No homework, no reading, no math, no writing. His homeroom teacher and I had talked many times, trying to figure out how we could motivate him to make even a little effort to learn. She shared with him how bright he was and how he could do anything but he told her that he really didn’t care. At all.

Finally, she asked me if I would try to encourage Michael to do something – anything – in the classroom and I agreed. A few days later Michael and I sat in an empty classroom talking as I tried to find out how to help him develop a desire to learn. He had no hobbies, he told me, and really didn’t want any.

Finally, I had an idea. Maybe there was someone in his life that he admired who could offer encouragement and instruction to inspire him. “Who do you look up to, Michael?” I asked him. “My uncle,” he told me. “I want to be just like my uncle.” Fantastic! A breakthrough! “That’s great,” I exclaimed. “What does your uncle do?” A huge smile spread across his face as he replied “Nothin’ He don’t do nothin’ and I wanna be just like him!”

In II Kings 22, Josiah had a decision to make. He had become the new king in Jerusalem at eight years of age. He needed instruction and encouragement as he led his people. He could have chosen any number of officials around him and modeled their beliefs in his life.

Instead he chose to follow his father David’s example and “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” Yes, David made mistakes in his life – I can’t think of anyone who hasn’t. But David was also a man who God said was “after his own heart” (I Samuel 13:14) and tried every day to follow Him.

What about you? Next to the Lord and His Word, who do you pattern your life after and look to for wisdom and advice? A Christian friend or couple who live what they believe and will pray with you about God’s will in your every decision? Or someone who will agree with whatever you decide if it makes you “happy” by the world’s standards?

There are a lot of people in this world who will tell you that “doing nothing” in your spiritual life is fine. “As long as you are happy, God doesn’t care what you do,” they advise. But is that accurate advice? Only by the world’s standards.

I encourage you as you face tough decisions every day to seek out those who will pray over you and share God’s Word so that you, too, will do what is “right in the eyes of the Lord.”

Father, help me to look for your wisdom and guidance through the prayer warriors around me and not through those with worldly wisdom. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

List the people that you consult for wisdom with difficult decisions.

Is their wisdom grounded in the Word or the world?

Apply

Call one or two prayer warriors that you know and ask them to consider being someone you can look to for spiritual guidance.

Contact them when you have decisions that need to be made, listen to their guidance, and pray together over the outcomes.

Power

II Kings 22:2 (NIV) “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.”

Psalm 119:33 (NIV) “Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end.”

Psalm 121:1-2 (NIV) “I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

(For more of Nancy Hughes' writing, check out her blog, Encouragement from the War Room.)