It's been said that we are to trust God and let Him fight our battles for us, but how do we do that but not stay complacent?
Christianity is nothing short of a balancing act, meaning we are always to be vigilant in balancing out certain areas of our lives. We must balance God's grace with His holiness, we must balance faith with practicality and we are to balance letting God fight for us with taking initiative.
In Exodus 14:14, God commands Moses saying, "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." This command, just like any other, is all-encompassing, but just like any other scripture, this can also be prone to misunderstanding.
Many people take this verse to a whole new extreme by making it an excuse to sit down and do nothing with their lives and decisions that must be made. When faced with a crossroad or met with a big challenge, some Christians will choose to say, "Well, I guess I should just wait and let God fight for me."
But God is not calling Christians to be slackers. Yes, God wants us to rest in His presence and to rely on His power and might and not on our own, but that doesn't mean He doesn't want us to be proactive Christians.
On the contrary, God is looking for Christians who will actively love and serve others, obey His commandments, remain sensitive to His move and get out of their comfort zones. However, He is also calling those proactive Christians to wait on His orders when the time is meant to be still and listen.
So how do I know when to stop and listen, or to march forward in action? There is no step-by-step solution to this question, but it does call us to desire one thing: Greater sensitivity toward God.
King David was known to be one of the most proactive and productive men in the Bible, but he was also one to get way ahead of himself. The great news was that David knew what he needed to combat that tendency and He expressed it well in Psalm 27:4, where he says, "One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple."
When we desire greater action and greater results, we must allow God to fight for us by hearing His voice first before going straight ahead into battle. Moses received this revelation when God told Him that God was fighting for Israel. That's why when at the foot of Canaan, Moses -- as a leader of a nation -- decided that He would not go anywhere if God wasn't going with them.
What battles are you facing today? Is God at the forefront or are you already at enemy lines while God is shaking His head?
