I am always looking for that point where Scripture and real life intersect. The more I study and live I find those moments happen more frequently. I recognize God is omnipotent and therefore I must declare that every nano-second is controlled by Him. But I am thinking more about my ability to recognize it in the 'real world ' (as opposed to the fake church world everyone thinks I live in.) One of the mental battles I often fight is the tension between active and passive faith. I guess those are my definitions of when to do nothing by just 'trusting God' for a solution and when to follow His appointed means in Scripture. It seems to be a passive thing when we are forced to 'wait on God.' For instance, God promised to take care of Abraham and give him a son when he was old. Likewise it was an active faith when Abraham journeyed to Moriah to sacrifice his son. In one sense I think the answer to my original question is obvious. When God calls us to do something we cannot do ourselves we must have a passive faith (trust.) However, when he commands us to do something we can do it must be an active faith. I guess that really isn't the problem. The real problem for me is that I do not always know when I have the ability to solve the problem. Ultimately God is in control of all things. However, He has appointed means to ends. For instance, he typically uses 'work' to produce money. I am trying to learn to define 'my role' in the whole matter. God is now using personal experience to work these things out in my life. Yesterday was a perfect example. Whitney and I saw our financial coach and are working on a plan to be good stewards of what God has given us. (BTW if you need a financial coach I highly recommend Robbie Courtney at www.financialcoachingforlife.com) However, we have to learn to trust God at the point we come up short. After our meeting we felt good about God's plan to give us freedom from debt. Then last night after church, through an anonymous gift, God made up the difference. Praise God! We experienced first hand the beauty of surrendering to God. In the process God humbled us and showed us how powerful He is. Please pray for us that we could find that perfect balance of passive and active faith in Him.