Time to Act
And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.” – Exodus 14:15-16 NKJV.
Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out… – Numbers 13:30-32 NKJV.
Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, “Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’” – Joshua 1:10 NKJV.
It happened on the same night that the Lord said to him (Gideon), “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.” – Judges 7:9 NKJV.
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. – Acts 16:9-10 NKJV.
Anthony Ruelas is a hero, even though he received a two day suspension from school for what he did. At Gateway Middle School a girl was having an asthma attack, wheezing and gagging. The teacher emailed the school nurse and waited for the nurse to respond. When 15-year-old Anthony saw the girl fall out of her chair he took action saying “We ain’t got time to wait for no email from the nurse.” In spite of the teacher ordering him not to, Anthony picked up the girl and carried her to the school nurse’s office. The girl is doing well thanks to the prompt action of Anthony. Even though, Anthony received a two day suspension for defying the teacher, he says that he would “most definitely” do it again. (Washington Post; KCEN; KWTX 01.25.16)
Throughout the Bible we see the servants of God confronted with decisions requiring action. With Moses, when the Hebrews were trapped between the rapidly advancing Egyptian army and the Red Sea, Moses prayed. God’s response was that the time for praying was over. Do what you know to do Moses. Use the rod Moses that I gave you to part the sea. When spies were sent into the Promised Land soon after the Hebrews escape from Egyptian slavery, ten of the spies did not have the faith to take action to possess the land. As a result, the Hebrews had to wander in the wilderness until all of the old generation except for Moses, Caleb and Joshua had died. Joshua again sent spies into the Promised Land at the end of this time. Through this we see that it is okay, and wise to check things out, but there will still arrive a time of decision to take action on the information that has been found. God had to prod Gideon into action, but he did act. With the apostle Paul, we see a heart attuned to the Voice of God and he immediately responds to the Macedonian call.
Are you faced with a difficult decision? Have you prayed about it? Have you researched all you can about the situation i.e. spied out the land? These are prudent things to do. However, it may just be time to act, and do what you know to do before it is too late.