When It’s Time To Get Up

When It’s Time to Get Up

When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship before the LORD. Then he returned to the Israelite camp and shouted, “Get up! For the LORD has given you victory.” Judges 7:15

GOD HAD GIVEN GIDEON MULTIPLE ASSURANCES of victory, of prayers and promises answered, yet Gideon was still uncertain when the time for battle came. Yes, God had promised success, but when? How? In what sequence of events? While it’s good to be in sync with God’s processes, Gideon was a little too preoccupied with the details. Still, God gave him a final assurance—words from the enemy camp of Gideon’s impending success. It was “go time.”

Your adventures of faith will almost certainly lead up to a “go time.” Sometimes God fulfills his purposes while we wait, but more often he concludes our time of waiting with a call to enter into the process itself—to go to battle, step out in faith, be the catalyst we’ve been waiting for. Like Gideon, we’ll need to be careful; too many believers have tried to force God’s hand by acting when they shouldn’t have. But don’t misunderstand; there is a time to act. Faith without works, as James insisted, is hardly faith. At some point, under God’s direction, we will likely be called to move.

The good thing is that God is willing to give us guidance for when the time is right. When he does, Gideon’s response is a good one for us to follow: to bow down in worship and declare that the time for victory has come. Many of our prayers involve long periods of waiting, but the moment of crisis calls for a different response. Like Gideon, we “get up” and choose to walk in victory. We pass through the parted waters. We overcome the obstacles. We enter into the Promised Land. We engage in battles. We claim the promise God has given. And we give thanks.

Watch for those moments. Don’t rush them; wait attentively. But when the time comes, get up. Your faith looks to him in hope, but also in partnership. Recognize when the Lord has given you victory.

You honor Jesus when you act in faith on his Word.