Do-Do Disorder

Alright, before you gasp and cover your children's ears, give me a paragraph to explain!

This Sunday, I had the opportunity to catch up with a Christian brother of mine who was experiencing some anxiety and some doubt, and as I listened I could almost complete each sentence. I probably could have told him exactly what he was thinking to the very detail; how it affected him; the guilt, the shame, the restlessness he was experiencing; the sleepless nights and never-ending days. I knew it well because I had done what he was doing--and sometimes I still do. 

I had told myself so many times, "All I want to be is a fruit-bearing Christian! I want to be effective and productive. I want to be efficient and reliable." Sometimes I cannot sleep at night for all the dreams that run across my closed eyelids that I have yet to see in real time. It is a stressful cycle to do and to do and to do. You get into a rut very quickly, and you stay there, digging deeper and deeper into your own misery and self-doubt, and you accomplish nothing--at least visibly.

The faithful, spirit-led Christian often results to the following self-talk: 

"Persistence! Persistence! Persistence!" 


There is value to persistence, but slow the mechanism for a sec...What I am thinking about here is the "Do-Do Disorder," so named for it's effect on the spirit when ones attempts at-length to do it all and for it's potential to make life really stink sometimes.  I debated on changing the name, but maybe it'll help you remember the conundrum.

So what do you do when you don't know what to do? Have you ever tried doing NOTHING? Think about Abraham (Genesis 20), Jacob (27), Judah (38)--not to mention their women! What if in their weak moments they could have relied a little more on God? I know one thing. None of them prayed before taking action in their weak moments. None of them took some alone time and had communion with Jehovah God. 

Discipline is good. Self-discipline is essential. In all the success books, you'll read, "If it's to be, it's up to me," which is helpful when you have direction. The revision--"If it's to be, it's up to He"--has become a new favorite aphorism of late. If you can look past the obvious grammatical error, it may prove helpful to you too. I have relied on me a whole lot in the past, and to be quite honest, I often found myself knee-deep.

Great Matt, so do nothing! Okay, here I am doing nothing. Whew this is nice...haven't NOT done a thing in a while...Alright, this is getting a little weird. Maybe I need to go for a walk...or go running! Or-hey-I'll visit that family from church, or maybe I'll memorize some verses. I'll pray for a whole hour! That would be great. I bet no one else in my church  did that today. I'll be the MOST prayerful!...ad nauseum.

Doing nothing can be the start. It may last 30 seconds or a minute. It may be for an hour. It may result in a nap. Your back deck would probably work, but so would your car, your recliner, or the bathroom (yeah, I said it). But then what? 

("How Do You Process?") When you are at rest, relying on God, you'll be prepared to receive communion and counsel from Him.

My friend and I got to this point in the conversation when he had recounted all the things he had tried to do to fix this feeling that he had in the pit of his stomach that he just could not do it all. Part of me agreed that no you cannot do it all and you shouldn't hold yourself accountable to doing it all. If you could do it all, then Jesus would never have had to come here, suffer, be rejected, ultimately murdered, resurrected, or ascended.

I asked, "Have you ever just tried sitting there?"

"Well, no" he smiled.

"You should try it sometime, He's pretty great, even when you're doing nothing."

When God's children are at rest and when they rely on Him, He allows them to tune into some spiritual activities beyond prayer and meditation that can make a huge difference: visualization, verbalization, realization, and actualization. They aren't just "works" or activities. They, through the power of the Holy Spirit through his Word can connect you to the Son and His spiritual provision.

Some application...


1. Visualization is a skill that we can develop that is based in the very spirit of the inner man. It gives us the ability to see where it is that God can empower us to go. He does not give us a dream or vision that we could never possibly realize. What does Satan do when he leads us astray? He gives us an image of what it would look like to choose him. Observe the tempter's method as he Jesus is tried in the wilderness...

Matthew 4:1-1
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” 8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” 11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

When you encounter a negative, satanic attack, you counter it, not with a positive thought, but with the Everlasting, Lifegiving, WORD OF GOD!!

2. Verbalization is largely misused, misunderstood, and misappropriated in the denominational world as a "name it and claim it" theology closely tied to the "prosperity gospel" that prevails among televangelists worldwide. It's important to understand God's time frame and the activity of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament versus today's world, but God has given us the ability to give life to our visions through the tongue, the smallest and most excellent rudder ever created. 


If you don't believe this in the positive, try it in the negative. Tell the receptionist at your office today, "Wow, are you feeling okay?" and just watch her reaction. Get a few others to join in, and you'll have her in the hospital by 5.


3. Realization is the act of drawing a mind picture of what it will take--for God and for man--to see in the physical realm the reflection of what is going on inside the heart of a man.
4. Actualization is the spiritual and practical activity that builds the bridge from the unseen to the seen. 
Satan's methodology

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” 8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you,[d] Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”[e]

11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.



2. Verbalization is largely misused, misunderstood, and misappropriated in the denominational world as a "name it and claim it" theology closely tied to the "prosperity gospel" that prevails among televangelists worldwide. It's important to understand God's time frame and the activity of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament versus today's world, but God has given us the ability to give life to our visions through the tongue, the smallest and most excellent rudder ever created. If you don't believe this in the positive, try it in the negative. Tell Miss Alice at the office today, "Wow, are you feeling okay?" and just watch her reaction. Get a few others to join in, and you'll have her in the hospital by 5.
3. Realization is the act of drawing a mind picture of what it will take--for God and for man--to see in the physical realm the reflection of what is going on inside the heart of a man.
4. Actualization is the spiritual and practical activity that builds the bridge from the unseen to the seen.