Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.” [Exodus 14:13-16 (NIV)]

Yes, God will deliver us but He expects us to do our part. We can’t stand still and expect him to do the work! God parted the Red Sea, but Moses had to raise his staff and the Israelites had to do the walking. God provided the manna to feed them, but they had to gather it. Jesus provided the healing, but the bleeding woman had to push through the crowd to touch his cloak. Noah’s family wouldn’t have been saved if he hadn’t built the ark nor would the Jews have been saved if Esther hadn’t risked speaking to the king.

Sometimes, when God answers our prayers, we fail to recognize His solution because it involves some effort on our part. If all we ever did was pray and wait, not much would happen; we’d miss a lot of God’s gifts. God may provide the miracles but we need to do the work!

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. [Thomas Alva Edison]