During Christmas break I created a prayer room in my basement. Between shelves and under a newly hung light in the dark of my storage room, I have what I call my “holy space.” There is nothing physically special about the space or the chair I sit in, but for me it has become the place where I meet with God. It’s the place where I practice my pursuit of “being.”

This idea of “being” captured my attention to begin the year. It has convicted and challenged me in my walk with the Lord, and I have found myself reflecting a great deal on what it means to be a person of “being” over “doing”. Like many things in life, I have come to realize that I have much to learn and apply in this area!  

In the last post I began to explore this topic of becoming a person of “being” over “doing,” and in this post I want to continue on that journey. Sometimes I learn best when I hear how other people have processed and reflected on a topic. So, I asked the staff and program leaders of Reconciled World to answer three questions.

  1. What does living as a person of “being” mean to you?
  2. How do you prioritize “being” over “doing” in your life?
  3. What is one thing you have learned in this struggle? (Being vs Doing)  

Today I’m going to present some of the thoughts that were shared in an attempt to help each of us learn and grow, and to challenge one another towards a deeper life of “being.”  I hope, like me, that you will find it deeply beneficial for your journey with Jesus.

There were many insightful answers to these questions – here are a few that stuck out to me:  

What does living as a person of “being” mean to you?

  • Dedicating space used to cultivate my inner life: to pray, to think, to read, to be quiet.
  • It means that I accept who I am as created in the image of God irrespective of abilities and failures.
  • When I am living as a person of “being,” I’m spending time with my Father, not just to read, meditate, or even worship, but I’m seeking to know Him and allow Him to know me.
  • It means being in a covenant relationship with my Lord. Much like a marriage, it is a relationship of mutual enjoyment and delight.

One person gave this description of what a person of “being” is – described in 5 words:

  • A person of “being” is…
    • Anchored – in God and rarely shaken.
    • Deep – and flowing with wisdom and spiritual maturity.  
    • Convicted – and does what is right, honorable and kingdom oriented.
    • Fruitful – constantly planting, constantly watering, and constantly harvesting in line with the Spirit.  
    • Spirit filled – and their life with Jesus is contagious to others.

Several people mentioned the importance of identity

  • Finding my identity in Christ rather than things and desiring to please him always
  • Getting away from the noise and activity to allow God space to work on my character, settle my true identity, teach me to discipline my mind, breath into my soul, and build my emotional maturity

One person gave a vivid picture of what living as a person of being means:

  • Brennan Manning in the Furious Longings of God used the following illustration when talking about prayer: “Is your own personal prayer life characterized by the simplicity, childlike candors, boundless trust, and easy familiarity of a little one crawling up in Daddy’s lap? An assured knowing that the Daddy doesn’t care if the child falls asleep, starts playing with toys, or even starts chatting with little friends, because the Daddy knows the child has essentially chosen to be with him for that moment?”  When I think of being I think of crawling into your father’s lap and falling asleep—the idea that a parent isn’t always seeking activity but relationship. It’s amazing to realize God has invited us into an intimate relationship that isn’t about achieving.

How do you prioritize “being” over “doing” in your life?

  • By seeking to understand and do what pleases God rather than what is generally done by others.
  • By leaving room for conversations with God instead of the constant noise of social media, TV, Internet—those things always seem to push me to strive, to compare, or to be better at worldly things.
  • Prioritizing prayer and listening, silence and solitude
  • Constantly reminding myself of God’s promises—who I am and whose I am
  • I prioritize by focusing on two things
    • Scheduling time with the Lord at the beginning and end of the day
    • Scheduling a personal retreat 2-3 times a year.   

One person mentioned that they know they need to recalibrate their life of being when:

  • I am tempted to not want to do things like take time to listen well to people or pray with them because these duties don’t really feel like they are moving my task list forward.
  • When I start to judge how well a day went by how much I got done.

What is one thing you have learned in this struggle? (Being vs Doing)  

  • That I’m much happier when I live out of a being perspective!
  • “Doing” makes me feel good about me (accomplishment, gives me value and like I’m progressing) and often makes others happy BUT “being” makes me a MUCH better doer – more patient, kind, resilient and gives me more wisdom in my doing.
  • My Fixation on doing quickly increases my internal stress
  • One thing I have learned is that it is not easy to bask in the warmth of God’s love without wrongly feeling I have to do something to earn his affection.

One person shared this experience

  • It’s so easy to get entangled with doing, and doing to seek appreciation, acceptance, and recognition. I struggled with this in 2004 and the Lord spoke to me through Isaiah 55….He asked me, “Why are you working so hard for things that do not satisfy?…. Come to Me, feed on Me, drink off Me, and live.” And He promised me that if I humble myself and repent and turn to Him and seek Him, He will lift me up, and I have seen His promises being fulfilled in my life.

Finally, one person wrestled with the reality of how both being and doing interact and influence each other.  

  • Who we are in our being is made up of what we do day-in and day-out. (Sean Covey, the author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People puts it this way: “We become what we repeatedly do.”) If I choose to do the things God says lead to flourishing—abiding in Him and loving others, stewarding my physical and emotional health, worshipping and reading His word, and even working hard—I become the person He made me to be.
  • Reuniting the two (being and doing) is really freeing for me. Because while I’m making my kids lunches I can take a moment to say, “I’m being a good mom right now.”  And if I don’t show up to chaperone field trips because I have a job, I can remind myself, “I’m being a hard worker and modeling the priority of kingdom building for my kids.” And when I do have the house to myself, I can stop and say “Will jumping into the ‘to do’ list make me the person I need to be today, or can I choose to take time for prayer and devotions?” Maybe it won’t be perfectly focused, monastery-worthy, deeply pensive time with the Lord, but I can consciously choose the action of sitting down with my Bible. And there is merit in the doing. There is grace.

Huge thank you to each of you who responded and shared your thoughts on this topic.  Your insights have given me much to think on and I have been challenged by your reflections.  May we each seek to pursue God’s ways through living as people of “being”, and may our abiding with God fuel a passionate and bold “doing” for Christ. To God be the glory!

Greer, Peter. The Spiritual Danger of Doing Good. Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.