Taking Action

 

"Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing. The moments I truly live are the moments when I act with my entire will."

– Oswald Chambers

(1874-1917)

Author

 

A successful life, whether that be in service to God or others, your career, family life, or any of a thousand other areas you can name, all depend on one key element. That critical element is action. Of course, we know that a "successful life" must incorporate all of these areas simultaneously.

You will never achieve anything without action. Setting goals won't do it. Praying won't do it. Wishing won't do it. Being the squicky wheel won't do it either. There is only one thing that will move you from point A to point B, which is for you to take action.

Many people live under the fantasy that if they pray hard enough and believe strong enough that God will drop whatever you are trying to achieve in your lap. It does not take a Bible scholar to see that is not how God works in His people's lives. Throughout Scripture, you see that when God wanted something done, or when He was answering prayer, He always required action from the people.

Let's look at this. It is not that God could not do these things on His own without humans doing something. After all, He created the universe without our help and did a pretty good job of it. So why did He decide to get us involved? It is for our benefit. Action brings us closer to God and allows us to be part of the process.

When God decided to destroy the world and save Noah and his family, what did He have Noah do? He told Noah to build an ark. God did not create it for Noah. He did not send a whale for Noah and his family to ride in. I mean, God could have picked up Noah and his family and put them on top of a mountain until the waters went down. He is God. Being God, He could have done anything. What He did was have Noah be part of the process.

In every battle, you see this where God gave the strategy, and the people followed it and won the war. They still had to fight. Look at the lives of the great prophets. Every time they helped people in need, they asked them to do something, or God had them do something, but the action was always a part of the equation.

This pattern went on into the New Testament as well. From the wedding at Canan and the servants who filled the pots with water to Peter catching a fish for the taxes, all the disciples caught fish for breakfast. And on into today as we pray and seek God's help in our daily lives.

If you want to see things happen in your life, start taking action. The hard truth is, without action, nothing will happen. I am not talking about a "God helps those who help themselves" kind of thinking. I am talking about the law of life. The principle of taking action is a law of success, a law of nature, a spiritual law, a moral law, and any other law you want to add to it.

Remember that it does not matter what you say you will do; it only matters what you do. What you say can sound nice, but what you do can change the world. As Norwegian Playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) said, "A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed."

You can learn more about Personal Development from the author and speaker, John Patrick Hickey. To get his books, training material, or book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   

© 2021 John Patrick Hickey. No part of this material may be reprinted or published without the written permission of the author.