Doing vs. Being

I am in a season right now that is so challenging. It is not a new season, but a reoccurring one. It is something that I have struggled with my entire life, and vocational ministry accelerates the struggle and can lengthen the season. I am wrestling with the balance of “Doing vs. Being”.

This battle seeps into every area of my life. I know I am struggling with this when it is much easier for me to do what a good dad does, than to be a good dad. It is much easier to go to a basketball game, to help with homework, to say a prayer before bed, than it is to stop pause the game and listen to my son, or to ask (and mean it) how their day was at school and talk with them through issues that they had. Being a father becomes a checklist.

It is easier to do what a good husband does, than to be a good husband. It is easier to help around the house, to run errands, to help get the kids to school than it is to take the time to understand my wife’s heart. Doing what a good husband does just takes a little time, being a good husband takes investment and desire.

It is easier to do things for God, than it is to just be with God. It is easy to write messages, pray for meals when your out with people from church, give Godly advice, return emails and phone calls all in the name of Jesus. The lines between ministry and my own relationship with God get blurred and distorted. I think about spending time with God, I just don’t. I think about journaling, but I don’t. I think about praying, but I don’t. I have a check list, and that check list allows me to do a bunch for God, and not BE with Him.

I know a lot has been written on this subject and everyone always quotes John 15, and the vine and the branches, and I can’t do anything apart from Jesus. I know all of that. The solution comes down to not just knowing the right answers, but making a decision to be the right person.

I am sure I am not the only person that struggles with this. Do you struggle with DOING Vs. BEING? How have you learned to recognize it and deal with it?