Sometimes God calls us to back off, shut up, listen and learn. Quite honestly, that can be much more challenging than taking action.

Listening and learning require humility because they are actions that ask us to admit that we do not have it all figured out. Owning up to our ignorance is scary and perhaps leaves us in a vulnerable place, but once in that place we are more open to what God is saying.

We may be the hands and feet of God, but that is only true when we listen for and learn what God wants us to do.

The struggle for me, and I would argue for many of my fellow Millennials, is this intense desire to change the world. Research has shown that Millennials not only want to make the world a better place, but we one hundred percent believe that we can. This makes the idea of stepping back to listen and learn even more challenging.

There are amazing blessings in store, however, when we take time to “be still.” It is important, too, to realize that we are not the ones doing the world changing… We do not have that kind of power! God is the one making the world a better place. We are simply the tools that can potentially make space for that to happen. We may be the hands and feet of God, but that is only true when we listen for and learn what God wants us to do. Hands and feet cannot act independently, but require direction and inspiration from the brain.

We can make reasonable assumptions about how God would have us act. The Bible is a pretty excellent guide for faithful living. But we must also understand that we can learn about the heart and desires of God through those around us. God fills our minds with beautiful wisdom and it pours out of each of us. We all have something to teach. That also means, however, that we all have something to learn. It is important to stop talking, stop doing, and be willing to listen and learn from those around us.

We all have something to learn. It is important to stop talking, stop doing, and be willing to listen and learn from those around us.

It may feel like inaction, but in reality stillness is a time of refueling to carry on acting for the long haul. Stepping back also makes our times of action more meaningful because we have taken the time to hear exactly how God needs us to act. How much quicker could the world be changed for the better if we stopped guessing at how God needs for us to act and, instead, got out of God’s way by standing still and listening for the precise action plan before getting started?

Sometimes the most meaningful way to change the world is to shut up and "be still."

Discussion Questions:

1. How might you slow down this week to listen for God?
2. Have you been ignoring someone that is attempting to teach you?