We all know the proverb, “Trust in Yahweh with all your heart.”
And for sure, it’s a great thing to memorise and to live out every day.

But are you waiting for a miracle? One that just doesn’t seem to be happening?
Are you praying every day? But no answer?

What are you doing about it yourself?
Anything?

Maybe your miracle is so big there is nothing you can do… Like maybe you want to be healed from a disease that may well just need God’s direct intervention, and nothing else will fix it.

But if you’re praying for a new job. Or a happier family. A child. Your future. “Success”…
Maybe there’s something you should be doing at the same time. While you pray.
Maybe you have a role in this miracle too?

When I was a young Christian I was still at university. An old Bible teacher said to me one day, “Pray like it all depends on God, but study like it all depends on you.”

Jerry Bridges in his book, “Pursuit of Holiness” talks about the analogy of a farmer wanting good crops.
The farmer is 100% reliant on God for the rain, the sunshine, things like that which are totally out of his control.
But if he just prays all day and doesn’t till the ground, or plant seeds, then no amount of rain or sunshine will make crops grow.

In the feeding of the 5,000 Yeshua performed a miracle with the fish and bread that Andrew found.
If Andrew had sat and done nothing, maybe that miracle wouldn’t have happened?

In the battle with Amalek, Moses had to stand on the hill and hold his staff over his head.
Joshua and his men had to actually go and fight.
But Yahweh was the one who actually gave them the victory.
Success wouldn’t have come without either one doing their part.

Esther had to go in to the king to ask him to change the law.
God clearly worked in his heart to change it, but Esther had to go in.

So, back to the thing you’re praying about.
What is your part in it?
Have you done it?
Are you just waiting for God to do it all for you with no effort or sacrifice on your part?


On the other hand… we can “say” that we’re trusting in God when we’re not really.
Are you doing too much? Are you meddling?
Are you leaving room for God to work and to glorify himself?
When God does a miracle he wants credit. He wants glory.

Maybe you have been working. But maybe you’ve been working too much.
Take a day off and give God a chance to do something.

Maybe you’re the farmer who tilled, planted, irrigated, installed lighting, … how is that depending on God?
Maybe you’re the student who studied 20 hours a day, 7 days a week, … how is that depending on God?

Maybe you’re like the guy in Jeremiah 17, who trusts only in his own strength.
Maybe like the Hebrews at the Red Sea. Maybe you just need to keep still and watch. To stand still and to just let him do it.


If your miracle isn’t coming, then perhaps you should start by examining how much you’re doing yourself.
Examine how much you’re not actually relying on God.

There are two parts.
You have to do your thing.
But you also have to rely on God and let him do his thing.
Don’t overdo your bit, and don’t do nothing. They’re both wrong.

If there’s a problem, then fix the balance, whichever way it needs fixing.

It’s not him. It’s you.