The Pitfalls of Passivity…

By nature I am a very passive person. Often I would rather go along to get along. I don’t seek out drama and do my best to avoid confrontations and discord. However, I have learned there is another side to being passive. While you might be successful in avoiding the uncomfortable side of life, you might miss out on opportunities that come your way because of the passive mindset. In this life we are constantly being challenged especially when it comes to getting our needs and wants met. There is an unnatural opposition that opposes us and seeks to steal away our hopes and dreams. A passive response to life allows that thief to function. Folks spend years and years waiting for good things to happen without really understanding that all the good things we desire in our lives require effort to obtain. The greater the effort, the dogged determination, the relentless pursuit, the more likely we are to reach our goals and live the life we have imagined. For the passive person nothing happens, not because God wants less for us, but because we have failed to do our part in the pursuit of it. Is there something you desperately want and need that has not happened yet? Are those dreams in your heart unrealized? Does the life you picture seem to evade you? If so the culprit may just be some passivity on your part; a lack of necessary actions; an unwillingness to go out and get what you need. These are some of the pitfalls of passivity.

At its core, passive is defined as not being active or not participating perceptibly in an activity. Further, passivity means having an acceptance of what happens without active response or resistance. Being passive is just letting things be as they are without challenging the resistance. In a perfect world, absent evil forces, everyone would get their desires met immediately without any delay. But, we do not yet live in a perfect world. In this world you and I have to fight for the things that matter most to us. We fight by making the decision to get what it is we are after and put a stop to the endless and demoralizing waiting, waiting, waiting. Believing, which always results in receiving, has to be accompanied by corresponding action, otherwise it is just wishing. The things which really impact our lives for the better; the things that meet our heart needs; the things that have the capacity to become life changing are met with the most resistance. Our enemy, the enemy of all mankind is counting on us to approach our needs passively. It’s like we are hoping for our ship to come in one day while we waste the years in between. Sometimes I think we just don’t recognize the level of resistance or foolishly attribute it to being outside of God’s will or something. If it is good and it is a blessing it is God’s will. The people that attribute not getting their heart needs met because God is somehow opposed to it are being deceived and that dastardly deception leads ultimately to a passive life; a life of unmet needs. Don’t let that be you!

Prayer has the capacity to become a very passive approach. Asking God for what you need is commendable. However, praying and praying without taking any specific directed action towards what you want is not wise. God promises that He has already supplied our every need, which He in His foreknowledge has done, but that doesn’t relieve us of the responsibility to go and find it. Everyone that asks will receive. Everyone that seeks will find. Everyone that knocks on the door and keeps knocking on the door can expect it to open. This is not passive behavior, this is assertive action. Believing without action is dead. Believing without action is simply mental assent. Mental assent doesn’t believe it only wishes and as my Dad was famous for exclaiming, “wish in one hand and sh*t in the other and see which one gets filled up first!” Forgive me but the illustration is priceless. You and I are never going to find until we get off the couch and seek. We keep asking and we keep seeking and we keep knocking not because God cannot hear us or is unwilling, but because there is resistance we have to overcome. It is understood that we do not know exactly where or how or even when our need will be met. However, we can be sure that nothing will happen at all until we make up our minds to start looking; to knock on the door until it opens. God has already moved. Now it is our move! Move. Take action.

This is not intended in any way as a criticism. If anyone knows passivity, I do. Instead this is a call to action! This is about deciding that what you need the most is available to you. It’s about knowing your personal needs mean something and are worthwhile. It is about loving yourself enough to solve the riddle once and for all. We have all spent too much time waiting for good things to happen. We all have parts of our lives that are unfulfilled and lacking. We all have our own special gift with which we are to share with the world and when we are clear about what we have to offer, then we must take action on it. Otherwise it will remain buried inside of us waiting, begging for expression. Passivity is the great killer of ambition. Passivity gets us to settle for a mediocre life. Passivity encourages us to go with the flow even if that flow hurts us and costs us something. Passivity convinces us to waste our lives waiting when there was no need to wait. God has already done His part in making sure what you need is already there. And God knows exactly when you will believe Him and get serious about finding what is already yours. So why not get started now, today? Stop assigning your unmet needs to circumstances, conditions or the time not being right! God certainly has perfect timing which requires us to wait at times, but I’m guessing that wait time is a lot less than we think. Less thinking, more action!

I’m not sure how I learned to be so passive, but it is a learned behavior. And just like anything we have learned we can unlearn also. There is nothing wrong with wanting harmony and not looking for conflict and drama. However, sometimes the situation calls for you to stand up for yourself or for other people. Sometimes in order to stop the fight you have to fight back. Wishing there was no fight doesn’t help us. In order to get all that God wants to give us, (which is vastly more than we have imagined) we have to get determined about receiving it. Where we haven’t enjoyed success, we need to persevere until we find success. Where we have suffered with unmet needs, we need to become relentless about getting those needs met. Where we have spent ages waiting for something to happen, we need to stop waiting and start acting. God will honor your believing action with results because faith with works works!

Just some good thoughts (backed by good actions!)…