The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But victory belongs to the Lord.
The above proverb has mulitple applications to our lives. The immediate context speaks about a battle or war, obviously. Plain and simply put, we can train our hands to fight a war but if we are victorious it will depend entirely on God. Most of us don't think this way in our society. We tend to think that the stronger, the more trained, the more equipped will eventually triumph. However, the training may be in our control, but victory is His will. We can apply this principle to any discipline or situation we find ourselves facing. Our ability to prepare, in reality, also comes from God. Let us not think that we do anything of virture or worth without His enablement. We do, however, have a responsibility to "prepare" for victory. David prepared for victory by using his sling and stones while guarding the sheep. He was smaller in stature and less equipped. Yet, God gave the victory. Daniel had less "resources," (not even having a stone and a sling). Yet, armed with his tool of prayer he closed the mouth of lions. Moses had a staff and whipped the entire Egyptian's army. Elijah simply bent his knees in prayer and closed the heavens from raining. We don't need a lot, we only need what God gives us and use that to its fullest extent. Prepare the horse but trust God for the victory.
This proverb, also, gives us a look at the partnership we have with God in the battle's we face. We are to trust in God for the victory but we are to prepare our resources for the battle. The horse (our strength, our skill, our size) is to be prepared for whatever battle we are about to face. We are to train and practice what God has given us for resources. But, we are not to trust in that preparation as the means of the victory. God is to be our trust. God will use those resources (as with Joshua) or even diminish those resources (as with Gideon). We might have the sword provided, but God will simply use the sling (David). We might have the sun stand still (Joshua) to make sure we can use our army to complete the battle. God will do some amazing things. We are simply responsible to prepare our resources.
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