by Joyce Meyer
A decision to do nothing is still a decision, and it is one that makes us weaker and weaker. It gives the devil more and more opportunity to control us. Empty space is still a place, and the Word of God teaches that if the devil comes and finds emptiness he quickly occupies the space (see Matt. 12:43–44). Inactivity indicates that we are in agreement with and approve of whatever is going on. After all, if we are doing nothing to change it then we must think whatever is happening is fine.
Do Something
We have taken various people on mission trips to minister to desperately needy people, but they don’t all respond the same way. Everyone feels compassion when they see the terrible conditions in which people live in remote villages in Africa, India, or other parts of the world. Many cry; most shake their heads and think these situations are terrible, but they don’t all decide to do something to change the conditions. Many pray for God to do something and are glad that our ministry is doing something, yet they never think to seek God aggressively about what they can do themselves. I would venture to say that most of them return home, get busy with their own lives again, and soon forget about what they saw. But thank God there are some individuals who are determined to find ways to make a difference. Remember: Indifference makes an excuse, but love finds a way. Everyone can do something!
Remember: Indifference makes an excuse, but love finds a way.
I remember a woman who decided she had to help in some way. For a while she couldn’t figure out what to do because she had no extra money to contribute and she couldn’t go live on the mission field. But as she continued to pray about the situation, God encouraged her to look at what she had, not at what she did not have. She realized she was very good at baking cakes, pies, and cookies. So she asked her pastor if she could bake during the week and offer her baked goods for sale on Sundays after church as long as the money went to missions. This became a way for her and other church members to be involved in missions and it kept her active doing something to help someone else.
I also know about a woman who was so desperate to do something that she cut off her beautiful long hair and sold it to help orphans. This may sound rather radical, but I can say for sure that it is much better than doing nothing. Doing nothing is dangerous because it opens doors for the devil to be active in our lives.
Another woman I interviewed is a massage therapist and after attending one of our conferences where I spoke on the need to reach out to others she organized a special spa day and decided all the proceeds would go to help poor people. She raised one thousand dollars for missions and also testified that the day of giving was life changing for her and those who attended. She shared how excited everyone got about working together to help the poor and needy.
We all need to be loved, but I believe our personal joy is strongly connected to loving others. Something beautiful happens in our heart when we give.
Inactivity Invites the Enemy
Lying on the couch or leaning back in the recliner asking God to take care of everything that needs to be done is easy, but it leaves us idle and unfruitful and open to the attack of evil. If our minds are empty of good thoughts, the devil can easily fill them with bad ones. If we are lazy and inactive, he can easily tempt us to do wrong and even sinful things. The Bible tells us quite frequently to be active for it will keep us from being lazy and unfruitful. If we aggressively think about what we can do for others there will be no room in our minds for wrong thoughts.
Idle people easily become discouraged, depressed, and filled with self-pity. They can fall into all kinds of sin. The apostle Paul even said that if a young woman became a widow, she should marry again. Otherwise, she might become an idle gossip and a busybody (see 1 Tim. 5:11–15). Paul actually went so far as to say that some of the younger widows through inactivity had already turned aside to go after Satan. How important is it to remain active? I believe Paul’s writings affirm that it is very important.
In fact, throughout Scripture God encourages us not to become inactive. In Old Testament times, when a person died the Israelites were only allowed to mourn that loved one for thirty days (see Deut. 34:8). At first, that might seem insensitive, but God made that law because He knows that prolonged mourning and inactivity can lead to serious problems.
We must stay active—not excessively involved lest we get burnout—but involved enough to keep us going in the right direction. Balance is very important. We cannot spend all our time helping other people, but on the other hand, spending none of it that way creates big problems. If you can think of someone you know who is idle, inactive, and passive you will probably also realize that they are very unhappy because inactivity and lack of joy go together.
Several years ago my aunt needed to move to an assisted living facility. For the first three or four years she wanted to do nothing. She was sad that she had to leave her home and had no desire to participate in the new life that was available to her. Although there were many activities available and even opportunities to help others, she persisted in doing nothing. Day after day she sat in her apartment and was discouraged. She felt bad physically and was often difficult to get along with. She finally made a decision that she couldn’t just keep sitting around doing nothing and she got involved in Bible study and visiting patients in the nursing home side of the facility. She played games, went to parties, and made lots of friends. Pretty soon she was telling me that she was happier than she had ever been in her life and felt great physically.
An inactive person’s condition goes from bad to worse until his inactivity begins to affect every area of his life. He passively allows himself to be tossed to and fro by his environment and circumstances. He lets his feelings lead him, and since he never feels like doing anything he merely watches and complains as his life falls apart. He wants to do many things, yet he is overwhelmed by a feeling that is almost indescribable. He feels lazy and has no creative ideas. He may even begin to think something is physically wrong with him and that is why he lacks energy. To him, life has become a succession of insurmountable problems.
Allowing ourselves to become inactive often happens after we experience a setback or a series of disappointments, or when tragedy strikes, which I will address at the end of this chapter. When such things occur, we may want to give up, but when we do, Satan is waiting to pounce and take advantage of the situation. We cannot for any reason let passivity give the enemy access to our lives.
Being Active Helps Me Beat a Bad Day
While I’m having my “rough day” today, there are millions of people in the world who would think my day is a party compared to what they’re facing. For more than two decades, a rebel army in eastern Africa has been enslaving children by forcing them to be soldiers in a war ignited by a guerrilla militia who has the audacity to call itself the Lord’s Resistance Army. These guerrillas terrorize the northern part of Uganda; they kidnap children as young as seven years old and force them to become soldiers or sex slaves, and to do other degrading jobs. Some statistics state that as many as thirty thousand to forty thousand children have been abducted. What began as a rebellion against the ruling government has turned into the slaughter of innocent people by a commander who claims he intends to create a society based on the Ten Commandments, while he violates every one of them.
This man, Joseph Kony, was once a Catholic altar boy. Now he mixes the Old Testament with the Koran and traditional tribal rituals to come up with his own doctrine. His tactics have been brutal. As of this writing, a truce has been called and many of the children are being released, but in most cases their parents have been slaughtered, so they have no homes to go back to. Most of the children have been forced to use drugs and have become addicted to them. They were forced to commit acts of violence that are unbelievable for an adult, let alone a child. Young children have been forced to shoot their entire families. What are they to do now? Wander through the roads filled with rage trying to find a way to forget what they have done. They will need help and I can pray today and as
k God to use me. I can get myself off my mind on purpose and think about people like those I have just described—people who have real problems.
I can remember the hopeless looks I saw on the people’s faces when I had the privilege of traveling to Uganda and I can continue making every effort to send help to them. I can imagine trying to put a smile on their little faces to replace the anger I saw when I first arrived. I can imagine what their lives can be like after we help build them a new village where they can have adoptive parents, good food, love, and education as well as proper teaching about Jesus and His plan for their lives.
Child Soldier
* * *
“Please, God, no more killing. Not today. I can’t watch anymore.” That is how the prayer went.
Off in the distance, Allen can hear the screams, the piercing blasts of gunfire, and the panic of sheer terror hits him. He knows all too well the significance of the sounds. How could he ever forget? They were the same sounds he heard right before the soldiers stormed his village and violently abducted his mother and father, brutally beating them to death to intimidate and coerce other abductees.
On that horrible day, the rebels did leave Allen behind. But after hiding in the bush for weeks with five other boys, sleeping on the ground with no food or water, the rebels found them. Allen was only ten years old.
From the moment he was abducted, he was beaten two or three times a day and given little food or water. “Get up, boy. It’s time to watch your friends die,” the rebel soldier yelled to Allen. He was forced to watch helplessly as the soldiers bludgeoned his friends in the head until they lay motionless in a gruesome pool of their own blood. Under threats of death, the rebels forced him to commit heinous acts of evil as well. He could feel his heart slipping into darkness…
Tonight, when Allen is sent to collect firewood, he plans to run. He will run hard… he’ll run until he collapses if he has to. Freedom is his dream. And maybe if he runs far enough, he can live for a day with no killing, and perhaps begin to heal.
Allen currently lives in a new village in Gulu, Uganda, designed to house and help child soldiers. Joyce Meyer Ministries, in partnership with Watoto Ministries, is developing this village to reach affected children.
Statistics say:
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) abducted over thirty thousand children to serve as soldiers or sex slaves in Uganda. 1
As of 2007, there were approximately 250,000 child soldiers worldwide. 2
While I was deciding if I should be down in the dumps all day, I received an e-mail from some friends who have served God in ministry for more than twenty-five years. It’s an update on their twenty-two-year-old son, who has very serious, life-threatening thyroid cancer. If I look beyond myself and realize that a great deal is going on in the world besides “me” I gradually begin to feel less absorbed in my problems and more grateful for my blessings.
I’m amazed when I think of how many of our problems are connected to what we think about. As long as I think about what I wanted and did not get, my mood goes down, down, down. But when I think of what I have and the tragedies other people are encountering, I realize that I don’t really have a problem at all. Instead of being pathetic I can be thankful!
I am eternally grateful that God keeps reminding me to stay active doing something good, because remember: we overcome evil with good (see Rom. 12:21). Has someone mistreated you? Why not pray for them? It will make you feel better. Have you had a disappointment? Ask God to show you others who are more disappointed than you are and try to encourage them. This will help them and make you feel better all at the same time.
The world is getting more violent all the time. As I continue to write, I have received another message—a text message informing me that a church in another city experienced a random shooting last night. Two people are dead and five injured. I am reminded of what the Bible says in Matthew 24, which discusses signs of the end times and says that amid all the violence and tremendous need, the love of the great body of people will grow cold. This is what we must fight against. We cannot let love disappear because if we do, we are handing the planet over to evil.
When I learned about the church shooting, I could have said, “Oh, that’s really sad.” I could have felt bad for a few minutes and then returned to my own disappointments. But I refused to do that, because I am not going to live with that kind of attitude. After I heard about the crisis, I thought for a few minutes and decided to ask my son to call the pastor and find out what we could do to help them. Maybe the families who lost loved ones need something or perhaps just knowing someone cares will help.
I am amazed when I think of how often we go through hard times and no one even calls. I believe people think everyone is doing it, so nobody does it.
Whose Job Is It?
This is a story I heard years ago about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. In the end, Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
I once read about a shocking incident that shows the principles of this story at work—tragically—in real life. In 1964 Catherine Genovese was stabbed to death over a period of thirty-five minutes while thirty-eight neighbors watched. Their reaction was described as cold and uncaring, a result of urban apathy and alienation. Later, research by Latane and Darley revealed that no one had helped simply because there were so many observers. The observers looked to one another for guidance on what to do. Since no one was doing anything, they determined that no one should be doing anything.
People are less likely to receive help in time of need as the number of bystanders increases. A student appearing to have an epileptic seizure was helped 85 percent of the time when only one bystander was present, but when several people were standing by and watching he received help only 31 percent of the time.
This study proves that the more people do nothing, the more people will do nothing, but if even a small group of committed people will begin to reach out to others with care and love, smiles and compliments, appreciation and respect, etc., the movement can and will grow.
Studies have proven that we are very affected by what people around us do. We look to one another for direction even when we are totally unaware that we are doing it. Most people will agree with the majority even if they really don’t agree. They do it just to remain part of the group.
If we want to be part of the Love Revolution, we as Christians must become the example to others instead of merely melting into the world’s system. Had someone simply been bold enough to take action or loving enough to help, Catherine Genovese’s life might have been spared.
Are You Praying Prayers God Can Answer?
I would like to suggest something for you to add to your daily prayers. Each day ask God what you can do for Him. Then as you go through your day, watch for opportunities to do what you believe Jesus would do if He were still on Earth in bodily form. He lives in you now if you are a Christian and you are His ambassador, so make sure you represent Him well. I spent lots of years in my morning prayers telling the Lord what I needed Him to do for me, but only lately have I added this new part: “God, what can I do for You today?”
Recently, I was asking God to help a friend who was going through a very difficult time. She needed something, so I asked God to provide it. To my surprise, His answer to me was, “Stop asking Me to meet the need; ask Me to show you what you can do.” I have become aware that I often ask God to do things for me when He wants me to do those things myself. He doesn’t expect me to do anything without His help, but neither will He do everything for me while I sit idly by. God wants us to be open to being involved. He wants us to use our resources to help people, and if what we have isn’t enough to meet their needs, then we
can encourage others to get involved so that together we can do what needs to be done.
God wants us to be open to being involved.
I encourage you to pray prayers God can answer. You and He are partners, and He wants to work with and through you. Ask Him to show you what you can do, and depend on Him to give you not only the creativity, but the resources to do it.
Don’t panic when I say, “Use your resources.” I am talking about more than money. Our resources include our energy, time, talents, and material possessions, as well as our finances. Helping someone may involve money, but it often involves time, and I think we are so strapped for time in our society that we often find it easier to write a check than to take the time to care about the individual who has the need. I have come to believe that what I call the ministry of “being there” is often what people need most.
A friend of mine lives in a large city where homelessness is a huge problem. One winter night she was coming home from work and walked by a man asking for money. It was cold and dark, she’d put in a long day and she was anxious to get home. Not wanting to pull out her wallet in a less than safe situation, she reached deep into her purse fishing for change. As her fingers searched in vain, the man started telling her that his coat had been stolen in the homeless shelter where he’d stayed the night before and described a few other troubles he was having. Still trying to come up with a couple of quarters, she nodded at the right times and said “that’s too bad” now and then. When she finally found the money, she dropped it into the man’s cup. He smiled and said, “Thank you for talking with me.” My friend says she realized that night that the fifty cents she gave him was appreciated, but what meant the most to that man was the fact that someone had heard what he said and responded.