God works miraculously through your efforts

There are times in the faith journey when God chooses to act overwhelmingly and crystal clear in response to our prayers. In such cases, all one has to do is worship the Lord, claim God's word, declare with his mouth that He is faithful, and confidently wait until he sees the salvation of Jehovah.

But at other times — actually, in most cases — God is going to require you to girdle your loins, roll up your sleeves, and go to work hard. And He promises to work miraculously through your efforts: His grace will be with you as you move from one place to another. His favor will be upon you when you appear before the people who have the resources you need.

As a consequence, opportunities will emerge unexpectedly that at other times seemed inaccessible. The soft breeze from the sky will go behind your boat, while you row and guide it with effort towards the place you have proposed. God will reward your efforts, and support your initiative with success.

Unlike, say, a person who needs a job and stays in bed with the sheet up to his neck all morning ("Oh Lord, send me a job! I need a miracle. God, you are faithful!") . And God says, “Look, get up, find a newspaper and do your research! Make a few calls on the phone; knocks on a few doors; and I'm going to bless you through that effort; and then you will get what you need ”.

There are cases where God says, "Just believe me, and declare my blessing, and move by faith." In other cases, God is going to demand that you work hard, and that you believe that in that investment of energy that you carry out, the power of God will be with you.

There are two ways in which the power of God moves in the realm of faith in this regard. Sometimes one will work, and sometimes the other will work.

Most of the time, God has worked in my life through my efforts. However, I always end up giving Him the glory because I know that my efforts were simply the vehicle that God used to incarnate His power through me. Because He wants to form in me a mighty and courageous man, and He wants to train me in war through the exercise of my faith.

Paul tells Timothy: “I advise you to fan the fire of the gift of God that is in you. For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, of love and of self-control ”(II Tim 2: 6,7). God imparts the gift, but He expects us to develop it and bring it to full manifestation, using that warrior spirit that He has instilled in us.

Furthermore, I would declare that in the vast majority of cases God wants us to operate in that mode of effort and initiative, and He promises: “I am going to bless you in whatever you undertake. If what you need is to educate yourself, I will support you. But you're going to have to peel eyelashes and you're going to have to study hard; and you're going to have to do your part, because I'm not going to give you that "A" just like that. You have to do your part, and I am going to bless you and give you that profession that you long for. I will give you the triumph, but first you have to dig, search, touch and ask ”.

We could say that the normative way that God works in the lives of His children is by channeling His power through their efforts, as they obediently apply the spiritual truths and principles of Scripture. God is glorified by seeing us putting into action the principles of His Word and launching ourselves to work by faith, instead of doing everything for us and preventing us from developing the gifts that His Spirit has imparted to us.