One of the questions we often ask as we go through life is what should I be doing right now? For example, you could be believing God for something and you have such tremendous faith that you see the vision so clearly. The question then becomes: what should I be doing in the interim? Pray, fast and just be idle while waiting?
Looking at a series of examples in the Bible, what is clear is that God often comes to people when they’re in an active state. In other words, they’re not simply lying idle and sucking their thumbs. See some four examples below:
- The first and perhaps the most striking one is when in Exodus 14, Moses told the Israelites to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, that God will fight for them. God immediately followed this by telling Moses “why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to move forward!”. Think about it: these slaves were pursued from behind by the Egyptians, ahead of them was the Red Sea, and to their sides were enemy territories – basically they were sandwiched with terror all around. But God told them to keep moving forward despite all of this. It was as they moved forward that God revealed to Moses how the victory was to be gained, by raising his staff to divide the Red Sea. You see this same principle applied in Joshua 3 when the people were about to cross River Jordan into the promised land – the priests had to step into the raging river first before God caused it to part way. Remember they were carrying the heavy ark and the water could have tipped them over but God said step into it by faith then you will see me move! Always remember this when someone quotes you the verse: “‘be still and know that I am God” as a reason for you to be idle. That verse is saying don’t be anxious, quieten your mind and trust in God, that He will cause all things to work together for your good. You just keep trusting and moving and leave the rest to God. One day at a time He will provide and guide you on the steps to take.