Friday, November 9, 2012

EMMDEV 2012-11-09 [Proverbs revisited] Winning battles

The horse is made ready for the day of battle
but the victory rests with the Lord Proverbs21:31

We always quoted this one at exam times! To study and to prepare is to make the horse ready for battle. The peace and the calmness and the ability to express our learned knowledge is God's contribution.

Sometimes we tend only to ask for help when we have not done our homework. Often in His great mercy, God answers us, but His choice and preference is to work with us instead of doing it for us. His desire is that we should grow in maturity and discipline. He wants to take the training wheels off our bicycles so that we can learn to do it on our own and enjoy the freedom of the ride.

Making the horse ready is hard work. It is often also secret work. There is no applause, audience, or fanfare but the results are worth it. This is about character. It is true of exams, work, marriage, and parenting. The hard work we do in secret will bear fruit and make a difference if we combine it with God's power to make us do our best.

Wesley said: "Work as if everything depended on you and pray as if everything depended on God!"

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/