Sometimes The Best Thing To Do Is Absolutely Nothing

2nd Samuel 1:10-14, “So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord. Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword. And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou?  And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite. And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?”

I could show you umpteen examples from the inspired Holy Bible where people would have been MUCH better off had they simply done nothing. In our text Scripture passage from 2nd Samuel, an Amalekite confesses to King David that he has killed King Saul. He was lying of course, Saul commit suicide, but the Amalekite did attempt to kill Saul. He sincerely thought by slaying David's enemy that the king would be pleased and reward him handsomely, but to his horror David was enraged and instead ordered him to be executed for treason. Had the Amalekite done absolutely nothing when Saul begged for him to kill him, the Amalekite would have been just fine. The lesson here is clear: Be careful about doing what people ask you to do.

I cannot think of a better example of what not to do then the way the south handled the issue of slavery. For decades there had been protests and talk up north from activists and preachers about freeing the slaves down south. This constant antislavery rhetoric from the Union made southern Confederate slave owners paranoid, big time! I mean, the slaves were their cash cow, their life's blood. Without the slaves who would work the cotton and tobacco fields?

So, when Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was elected as U.S. President on November 6, 1860, the south panicked. The best thing that they could have done was absolutely NOTHING! But under the misguided leadership of Jefferson Davis (1808-1889), the south decided to secede from the northern Union, and that is what compelled President Lincoln to start the Civil War.

Several hundred thousand men and teenage boys were killed by each other. Approximately 250,000 to 420,000 boys under the age of 18 were involved in the American Civil War, with estimates suggesting that around 100,000 Union soldiers were 15 years of age or younger. That is a shocking statistic! Sadly, many of them were killed in a needless battle over slavery that didn't even need to be fought!

In a shocking letter written by President Lincoln to Horace Greeley on August 22, 1862, Lincoln states:

Executive Mansion,
Washington, August 22, 1862.

Hon. Horace Greeley:
Dear Sir.

I have just read yours of the 19th. addressed to myself through the New-York Tribune. If there be in it any statements, or assumptions of fact, which I may know to be erroneous, I do not, now and here, controvert them. If there be in it any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now and here, argue against them. If there be perceptable in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend, whose heart I have always supposed to be right.

As to the policy I "seem to be pursuing" as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt.

I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.

I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men every where could be free.

Yours,
A. Lincoln.

Wow! All that President Lincoln cared about was saving the northern Union. The Confederacy fought a costly and egregious war that never even needed to be fought in the first place, all because they were enamored with unwarranted paranoia and fear over nothing. If the south had just done NOTHING, no slaves would have been freed. The south created their own dilemma by wrongly reacting due to their fear (False Evidence Appearing Real). Pastor Jack Hyles was absolutely right, who said: “It's not our actions that destroy us; it's our reactions.”

I admit that I am guilty of having often done this very same thing throughout my life, allowing my stupid fears to cause me to make bad decisions that caused even more pain, loss, suffering and grief. I am a worrier by nature, which makes it all ten times worse! So, knowing this about myself, I have to be careful not to make hasty decisions. I have painfully learned that oftentimes the best thing to do is absolutely NOTHING. Or as Dr. Jack Hyles used to wisely say, “Don't make decisions when your decision maker is broken.”

For every time in my past that I regret having not taken action when I should have, there are far more times that I regret having taken action instead of just doing nothing. This is why we all desperately need God's wisdom, to know how to respond in different given situations.

When the Apostle Peter drew His sword and cut off the servant's ear in defense of Jesus, Peter would have been better if he had done nothing. Peter had previously told Jesus that he would prevent Him from being crucified, for which Jesus called the apostle, “Satan” (Matthew 16:23). Peter had good intentions, but he was very wrong (Proverbs 14:12). It was absolutely necessary for Jesus to be crucified that God's free gift of salvation could be offered to humanity. Peter had tunnel vision, failing to grasp the big picture of what was going on.

So, when you're in a situation and not sure what to do, sometimes doing nothing is the best thing. Let the other person make the first move. It all depends on the particular situation, but I think in many cases we'd be better off doing nothing. You don't have to always react to someone's words or a situation. Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”