Then he said, “Who shall begin the battle?” He answered, “You.” 1 Kings 20:14
Often, when I’ve gone to God, asking that he do something for me, I’ve had this expectation that I should just be able to sit back and watch him do the thing I asked. In the case of my drug addiction, I’ve prayed repeatedly for God to simply remove the appetite. If you take away the self-destructive appetite, I’ll stop the self-destructive behavior. God has had other ideas though. He’s insisted that for me to see him work, I must do something. I must obey. Do whatever it takes to stop the self-destructive behavior. Confess, go to recovery meetings, and change your life. Then, once I’ve followed God, participating in his plan, I’ve seen him work his miraculous transformation.
God often insists on our active participation in his plan for our lives. This is the lesson illustrated by King Ahab in today’s passage. In the story, an unnamed prophet came to King Ahab, promising victory over the massive Syrian army that was threatening Israel. King Ahab, sounding somewhat reluctant, asked the prophet exactly who was going to go out and fight the battle. You are. King Ahab was promised that God would give him victory, but still, he had to go out and do the fighting. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I get the impression that Ahab was hoping to just sit back and watch while fire from heaven consumed the Syrians. God had other plans though – God was going to work a miraculous victory, but his plan required Ahab’s active participation.
It’s often the same with us. We ask God to do something in our lives, expecting some miracle that requires nothing of us. God though, often insists that we obey. Then, it is only in our obedience that we see God’s transforming power in our lives. God has a plan for us, but still, he requires our active participation in that plan. Like King Ahab, we must go to God daily, asking what it is he wants us to do. Then, we must do it.