The morning of the eve of my momma passing….she had a final ‘rally’ in her death transition. This may seem odd to say, but it was funny and lighthearted and energetic, and it was also profound, and I believe it was God teaching me a lesson.
Momma somehow had adorned her wild, crazy head of hair with her bedazzled and jeweled hot pink hat that said JESUS across the top. She had scooted her tiny, frail body to the end, the very edge of her bed, and declared she was going somewhere.
With myself and my siblings surrounding the edge of the foot of her bed in preparation for whatever this wild woman was about to attempt…she warned us.
She told us, “Don’t jump.”
She informed us she was about to move, but demanded we remain still.
She took the time to expand on this a few times, telling us not to jump when she moved. She looked at each of us and repeated, “Don’t jump.”
We were anticipating what would come next, and she knew it. She knew that when she moved we were going to jump into action to protect her, to help her, to guide her.
But she, again, warned us not to jump.
Well, as you might guess, she moved and we all “jumped” — quick reaction to her moving. We all laughed, and she repeatedly kept saying, “I told you not to jump and you jumped.”
It did not hit me in the moment, but it did come to me in a deep, profound thought of how often I jump at every single thing that happens around me — and often not even TO me, but to others.
I jump in and try to rescue, fix, and solve every problem around me and others.
My momma, on her deathbed, was teaching us a biblical lesson:
Stand still. Wait. Be quiet. Listen. Pray. Trust.
One morning in my quiet time, God pressed upon my heart that when I react, I get in His way.
He’s already got something worked out, but my interference…. Well, it interferes.
I interfere.
I am the problem.
I get in the way.
I slow down progress, blessing, and resolution.
Don’t confuse urgency with obedience.
The faithful response and reaction is not to act fast, but to become still enough to hear what God says.
Exodus teaches us about the time when the Israelites were facing the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh’s army behind them. Everything in that moment screamed:
DO SOMETHING.
But Moses told them not to panic, not to run, not to jump…. To watch and wait for God.
“Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the LORD’s salvation that he will accomplish for you today… The LORD will fight for you, and you must be quiet.”
— Exodus 14:13–14, CSB
A moment so full of the desire for urgent action.
But Psalm 46:10 (CSB) reminds and urges us, “Stop fighting, and know that I am God.”
For me, it is an internal, life-trained belief system to fight, to act, to do. I have somehow been trained, and rewarded, by life and the world to fix it, to “help,” to say something, to protect, explain, and solve the problem.
I’m learning…
I am not God.
My momma was not God.
God is God, the fixer, the solution, the one.
“Even zeal is not good without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily sins.”
— Proverbs 19:2
Zeal is high energy. It’s not always bad. But that positive energy might not be God-directed and ultimately cause anger and frustration. Then, in our anger, we sin.
2 Chronicles 20:17 tells us, “You do not have to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.”
Sigh — once again we are told to be still.
It’s not saying don’t act; it’s saying wait.
Is my reaction based on anxiety or God?
It’s not saying don’t do anything; it’s saying wait long enough to know what God says to do.
So maybe when everything inside of me is screaming at me to jump, I need something to remind me what to do instead.
J — Just be still. Stop.
Exodus 14:14 / Psalm 46:10
Before I fix it, answer it, defend it, explain it, protect someone from it, or solve it — stop. Seek God.
U — Understand who is in control.
Proverbs 3:5–6
I don’t know the whole story. I don’t know what God is doing behind the scenes. I don’t know what He may be trying to accomplish in someone else that my jumping in could interrupt.
M — Make room for God to move.
Psalm 37:7
God is still working. My inability to see what He is doing does not mean He isn’t doing anything.
P — Pray before proceeding.
Philippians 4:6–7 / James 1:19
Ask before acting.
Before I speak. Before I text. Before I make the phone call. Before I jump in to fix it — pray.
Scripture tells the story of people who did jump and how that worked out, or didn’t work out, for them.
Abraham and Sarah — the promise of descendants, time passing and nothing happening. Sarah took it upon herself to solve the problem, and that did not go well.
We, too often, doubt God’s timing, not God Himself.
We intervene.
Then there’s Saul in 1 Samuel 13, bless his heart.
He was told to wait, but he didn’t.
Samuel told him he acted foolishly.
Maybe the lesson isn’t that we should never move.
Maybe the lesson is that we shouldn’t move before God does.
There will be moments when God absolutely calls us to act, speak, protect, lead, confront, help, or move. Being still isn’t passive. Waiting isn’t weakness.
Sometimes waiting is obedience.
So when something happens, and every life-trained instinct in me says:
Fix it.
Say something.
Protect them.
Solve it.
Do something.
JUMP.
I want to remember the voice of my momma from the edge of that bed:
“Don’t jump.”
Just be still.
Understand who is in control.
Make room for God to move.
Pray before proceeding.
And then, when God says move…
move.
