Get ready, but trust God

The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the LORD.  – Proverbs 21v31

I think all of us wonder sometimes where we find the balance between doing what we can do and then trusting God. There are, of course, two extremes. We can forget about God and totally depend on our abilities, plans, schemes, and ideas. We think that if we do everything we can do we will be ready when the tough times come.

On the other hand we might be tempted to do nothing. We say something like, ‘Well, I’m not going to worry about. God is in control and I am just going to trust Him.’ Then, when troubles do come we blame God when it goes badly.

The longer I live the more I learn that the Christian life is all about balance. This proverb is indicative of that.

‘The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord.’

The verse does not criticise the importance of preparation. It seems to indicate it is right to ‘prepare the horse for the day of battle.’ We should prepare. We should do all we can to be ready for hard times. We make our plans, save our money, fill out the paperwork, and talk to the right people. We do everything we can to fight the battles and face the challenges. We do all that is humanly possible. That is what God expects from us.

But then we realise that ultimately if the battle is going to be won or the challenge conquered it is the Lord who is going to do it. He is in control. When we have done all we can do we leave it up to Him.

Most of us can think of seemingly insurmountable struggles that we have faced or are facing. If not, they will come. We do all we can do to sort things out. We prepare the horse for the day of battle.

But all the time we do that we need to remember that it is not in our hands – deliverance is fo the Lord. We do our best; we do all we can do. Then we trust Him.