God Said It… Now What?

Beloved Friend,

There is something I’m currently sitting with, and it touches almost every area of our lives if we are honest.

It’s responsibility.

Not in an overwhelming way, but in the necessary way that shows up in how we respond to what God has said and what life places in our hands.

There is a pattern I have noticed, especially in our walk with God. We believe Him, we hold on to His promises, we pray, we declare, we rest in what He has said. All of that is good. Very necessary. Yet somewhere along the line, we subtly remove ourselves from the process and assume that because God has spoken, our role is simply to wait while He does everything else.

It sounds spiritual at first, yet when you look at Scripture closely, you begin to see that something is missing.

Scripture does not just call us to believe. It calls us to follow.

When Jesus said we should pick up our cross, He was not inviting us into passivity. He was calling us into responsibility. Following Him was never meant to be a passive experience. It requires alignment, and response.

Let me bring it home in a way we can all relate to.

A brother walks up to a lady and says, “God said you are my wife.”

Alright.

Then what?

There is no effort to know her, no intentionality, no communication, no emotional maturity. He is simply standing there with a prophecy like a certificate, expecting it to perform itself. Meanwhile, heaven is not confused. God may have spoken, but He is not going to replace the responsibility that belongs to you.

He will speak to her to confirm His word but you’ll speak too.

This same pattern shows up in other areas of life. God shows you a job or gives you a promise about your career, and an opportunity opens up. You apply, you even get called for an interview, then you show up unprepared or sometimes not at all, resting on the idea that since God said it, it will happen anyway. At that point, it is no longer faith. It is avoidance and laziness masked as spirituality.

Even from the beginning, when God created man and placed him in the garden, provision was already made. Everything Adam needed was available. Yet Adam still had responsibility. God did not come every day with a party pack to hand over to him. He created trees. Adam had to reach out, pluck, and eat. There is a difference between provision and participation, and that difference matters. God provides and man responds. That is the pattern.

This is why we have to understand Scriptures in their fullness. When the Bible says, “Be still and know that I am God,” it is not an invitation to become passive or careless. It is a call to trust, to rest in God’s sovereignty, to stop striving in fear. Yet that same God is the One David spoke about when he said He trains his hands for war. That means stillness is about alignment, not inactivity. You rest in Him, yet you still move with Him.

Even Christ, who said, “Thy will be done,” did not say it and then withdraw from action. He lived it out fully. He prayed, obeyed, endured, and aligned Himself with what He knew had to be done. Saying “Thy will be done” is not passive language. It is surrender that expresses itself through obedience and obedience is an action word.

We cannot que sera sera our way through life and call it faith. “What will be, will be” may sound comforting, but Scripture reveals something deeper. What will be still requires participation to become what will be. God’s will does not cancel our responsibility. It invites it.

You see this clearly in the story of Deborah. God had already declared victory, yet Barak still had to gather men and go to battle. The outcome was assured, but the participation was still required. God’s word did not eliminate action. It gave direction for it.

If we are honest, this is where we often struggle. Participation is not always convenient. It requires accountability, and a willingness to confront areas where we are not yet aligned. It is easier to remain in a version of faith where we believe God but avoid responsibility, where we pray but do not act, where we confess but do not commit.

This is why the world often drags us.

Yet God is not raising people who are spiritually alive but practically irresponsible. He is not raising people who can pray deeply yet avoid ownership in their lives. There has to be alignment across everything. Spirit, body, mind, and action.

This applies even in the most everyday areas of life. Taking responsibility for your health instead of neglecting your body and expecting divine intervention to cover what you refuse to steward. Taking responsibility in relationships instead of shifting blame when things go wrong. Owning your part, making adjustments, even when it is uncomfortable.

I’ve realized a simple truth. If you cannot take responsibility, you cannot grow. If you do not grow, you will keep asking God for things you are not yet ready to carry. 😭

We need to sit up friends.

Not every time , “God, do this for me”, but, “God, how do You want me to partner with You in this?”

He is faithful. That part is not in question.

The question is whether we are willing to respond.

With thoughts of kindness,
ABBA’s Shofar