A Do-Nothing Faith

Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. . . You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf. 2 Chronicles 20:15-17

 As long as I can remember, I have wanted faith to mean that God does all the work and that I do nothing, while reaping all the benefits of God’s work. For instance, when I was a kid, I watched a sports movie about an underdog who trained hard and won against all odds. I wanted to win against all odds . . . without all the training. So, I prayed that God would make me an amazing athlete. Later, as an adult, when I found myself overweight, I prayed that God would just take away my appetite for that which was unhealthy. I wanted the benefits of eating well without any of the sacrifice. I did much the same in my addiction, asking God to miraculously take away my appetite for drugs. I didn’t want to go to treatment or do anything uncomfortable. I just wanted the benefits of God’s work in my life with none of the hard work or sacrifice of change.

So, you can see the appeal of today’s passage, in which God tells his people that the battle is not theirs, but his. In the story, King Jehoshaphat and his people are surrounded by a great enemy horde, which threatens to destroy them. God, speaking through a prophet, tells them not to worry. They won’t have to fight. They must, however, show up. Though God intended to fight for them, God still asked them to show up and confront the enemy on the battlefield. This required a tremendous faith. It’s one thing to stay at home, believing God will provide a miracle. It’s quite another thing to show up on the battlefield before they saw the miracle.

I think this is what God asks of me though. I prefer a do-nothing faith in which I do, well, nothing. God however, asks that I show up and that I follow him. I want faith to mean that I sacrifice nothing and endure no discomfort. God though, asks that I abandon the old life to follow him, which often requires a lot of hard work on my part. Faith doesn’t mean I do nothing. Faith, rather, means that I believe in God so much, that I follow him with my behavior, and that, sometimes, means obediently showing up on the battlefield before I see his miraculous work in my life.