I’ve had occasion lately to be reminded of how small I am compared to the need around me. It has led me to depend more on God’s guidance than I’ve ever done before.

It would be easy to retreat to the safety of doing nothing for fear of doing the wrong thing. However, that is not what God wants of His children. He tells us to be bold, but without being cocky. He helps us to make a decision and then stand firm on that position.

How do we accomplish that? Here are some of the directions I find in God’s word…..

Don’t Run Ahead of God

Do not say, “I will repay evil”;
Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.
…
The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.

Proverbs 20:22, Exodus 14:14

First, I need to choose my battles. Any action I take can’t just be impulsively flailing around in anger or panic. There is a time when nothing I can do will be productive. In those times, I am to simply watch in awe as God handles the situation with no need for my input.

The Exodus passage above was one of those times. The Israelites had left Egypt with the Pharaoh’s reluctant permission. Then he changed his mind and sent his army to bring them back. The million-person-plus mass of escaping slaves — including women, children, and elderly — was trapped between a formidable army and an impassable body of water, the Red Sea. They were milling around in total panic, expecting to be annihilated.

Moses told them to relax: They didn’t have to run, or try to fight for themselves. God had it ¹.

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Do Something

He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap.
…
There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more,
And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.

Ecclesiastes 11:4, Proverbs 11:24

These verses teach me to not be timid or stingy. Don’t constantly look around to see what the atmosphere — whether literal or figurative — is doing, and then forever wait for a better time. Don’t hold back if God is putting something right in front of me that needs to be done. Go ahead and “just do it”.

Even something done imperfectly, with less than 100% complete knowledge, is better than something always planned to start “tomorrow”, a tomorrow that never arrives.

Gideon (Judges 6-7) is an example of someone who almost fell into this trap. He kept asking God for confirmation that he was hearing Him correctly, that God really wanted him to raise an army to fight Israel’s oppressors. I read a comment once that his fleece (Judges 6:36-40) almost developed mildew before he accepted God’s commission! 😁 But, once he did, God used him to accomplish a great victory.

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Do Your Best

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might;
…
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.

Ecclesiastes 9:10, Colossians 3:23

These verses tell me to not work half-heartedly. If something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. A task that God sets in front of me deserves my full attention and effort…because that is what HE deserves.

In the Colossians verse above, the Apostle Paul is writing to slaves. Of all people, they would be tempted to do only the bare minimum needed to get by. After all, they weren’t getting paid, and not all masters were kind and generous to their servants.

Paul didn’t ask them whether they were in a good position or not. He just said to work as if God was their master…because He is. Whatever their situation, they were in it by God’s providence and for His own reasons, just as I am today.

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Do What God Leads

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
…
Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

James 1:5, Isaiah 30:21

Finally, these verses address my fear that I will fail, making some mistake that irreparably ruins everything. I know that I am not perfect and will make mistakes ². But God will give wisdom and guidance when I depend on Him.

I once read someone who described their dependence on these promises as asking God for wisdom and then doing whatever seemed best in each moment. They trusted that “what seemed best” would be God’s wisdom flowing through. I’ve tried that in my current challenges, and it works. I may not feel it at the time, but I can look back and see that each step led to the next one on the path in a way that I would not have predicted.

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Bottom Line

We can’t know what the future holds (other than eternally). We are not to be paralyzed with worry, or hoard our goods in greed or fear. Rather, God bids us step forward with confidence, doing our best with what is in front of us at the moment, and trust Him for the rest.

1. But when it was time for them to move, they moved! See the rest of chapter 14.
2. In fact, I caught one just prior to writing this paragraph! And then another one came to light that same evening. But God takes even those mistakes into account.