You Know Exactly How to Do It

Most of us waste years waiting for permission we already have.

We tell ourselves that real change belongs to somebody else. The pastor's job. The elder's responsibility. The husband with more experience. The wife with more patience. Meanwhile we sit still — watching the family drift, the church cool off, the marriage grow quiet.

But be straight with yourself: Could you make things worse right now if you tried?

You could say the cutting word. Pick the unnecessary fight. Skip the family altar again. Let another week pass without opening your Bible. Pull back from your church family. Grow colder, more distracted, more conformed to this world.

You know exactly how to do it.

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. – Ephesians 5:15-16

Passivity isn't neutral ground. Redeeming the time means you're spending it on something. The question is what.

Proverbs 14:1 pictures a woman tearing down her house with her own hands. Foolishness doesn't require effort — it just requires misdirection. That same will, yielded rightly, is what God intends to sanctify and put to work.

You're not powerless. You never were.

You're just a steward who hasn't believed yet that the Master expects a return on what He's entrusted to you.

Do the faithful thing today. Pray with your wife. Open the Word with your kids. Show up to your church family.

The power was always there. The only question is who you're going to use it for.