The Lie in Back to the Future

#65

Friend,

I’ll never forget the advice that Marty McFly received from his father George, “If you just put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.”

That’s a lie.

I never dunked a basketball.

But this is a prominent idea in our culture. If you aren’t accomplishing your goal then simply, “Do more. Try harder.”

This may be great advice to dispense to an 8-year-old who is struggling to clean his room.

But.

“Do more. Try harder.” This may be terrible advice for you in your situation. I know this because you’ve been trying hard, you’ve done more, and nothing is working out. Now, sometimes we are just short of the breakthrough, and we need to keep trying to crack through the wall, but for you, my friend, in this situation we need a new approach.

Instead of “Do more. Try harder,” I want to invite you to “Be still. Wait well.”

“Be still. Wait well.” I know, it’s uninspiring. And I would agree, but I’m not looking to make movie a here, I’m looking to be helpful. Let me expound.

Be Still- The full version of this is “be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10. This is not do nothing. This is to know God. You see in our “Do more. Try harder.” mode our focus is on our achievements (or lack thereof), but in “Be still” mode, our focus is on knowing God and seeing ourselves in light of God’s goodness. When we are still, focused on God, we can begin to see what we couldn’t see earlier. (For example, my goal of dunking a basketball was not worth the time that I could spend on maybe, possibly, but probably not ever accomplishing it. It was a bad goal.)

Wait Well- Now this seems similar, but the word waiting may not mean what you think it means. We think of waiting as sitting in a doctor’s office with nothing to do and no agency to do anything. But biblically the word “waiting” does not mean inactivity, but preparation.

• Waiting is a farmer who tends to his field after planting the seed. Trusting that the seed is doing something in the darkness.

• Waiting is a chef working on the sides while the main dish is in the oven. Trusting that the heat of the oven is doing what the chef cannot do.

I believe in you, and you should still watch “Back to the Future” even if it did lie to you. It’s a great movie.

Love,

Aaron

P.S. One way you can wait is to be diligent in prayer. I’d be honored to pray with you. Let me know here what you need.