Previously, in my role as a supervisor, I tried to learn the personal goals of my team members. It was an opportunity to understand them better and, of course, to help me discern how I could help them progress beyond an occasional work evaluation. On hearing the question, one employee sat thoughtfully for a few moments before sharing that he was only a few classes away from earning his bachelor’s degree. He said he’d always been disappointed he had not completed the program, and he seemed to have a good handle on the necessary steps. On asking if he was willing to take the initiative to make it happen, he smiled and said, “Yeah!” I told him that I looked forward to hearing about what he had done to start to make it a reality.
When we next met, I asked what he had accomplished toward his goal. He admitted he had not done anything but thanked me for encouraging him. Another few months went by and again, I asked how it was going. Again, he smiled, said he had done nothing and then said, “But keep asking me.” I did not ask again. Somehow, his commitment had become my responsibility.
This phenomenon sometimes takes place in counseling as well. Couples eagerly enter counseling, asking what they must do to improve their marriage. Scriptures are read, promises are made and they leave with a plan to make it happen. Meeting after meeting, they appear to have an earnest desire for things to be better, but no steps are actually taken. Again, the commitment extends only so far as an apparent earnestness in asking for help, but not in following through.
An example of that is seen in Exodus after the Lord had executed all the plagues on Egypt. As the Israelites fled, Pharaoh changed his mind and pursued after them with his army. Panic set in as they came closer, causing the Israelites to cry out in complaint to Moses, “What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?” (Ex. 14:11). Moses instructed them, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today” (Ex. 14:13). Moses, in turn, apparently cried to God, and it’s the Lord’s response that’s alarming.
The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” (Ex. 14:15–18)
Many are familiar with God getting the glory over Pharaoh, his host, chariots and horsemen when He divided the Red Sea. What you may have overlooked is God’s reaction to Moses’ anxiety just before miraculously intervening. At their moment of greatest fear, watching from the beach as an angry army bore down on them, God said, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.”
It wasn’t a time for appeals or demands. It was time for action! God had already made the promise of deliverance to Israel and repeatedly demonstrated His power over their oppressors. God was not interested in reassuring them yet again. He expected them to go forward!
Are you guilty of repeatedly going to the Lord for answers, yet failing to take any action? Do you say, “I just don’t know what to do” after you’ve received godly counsel about what to do? Is it possible that you’re justifying your inaction by shifting your responsibilities back to God? Don’t be the person who does nothing while saying, “But keep asking me.” He has promised and He is faithful, so Go Forward!
“Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.” (Ezra 10:4)