This article is Part 7 of Sister Michelle Watson’s series “Dealing With Divine Delays.”

God can’t win the battle if you don’t let Him fight for you.

Amen to that, we all say! It seems so simple. It sure sounds simple. But what does it actually mean? Versions of this succinct little statement are probably illustrated on Pinterest and set to music on video slideshows across the Internet. It’s a really nice little sentence, and it rings true … we’re just not sure why.

After I’d dealt with years of infertility, there was no doubt that I wanted God to win the battle for me. I just wasn’t sure how to let Him fight for me. What kind of opportunities should I give over to Him? Should I do absolutely nothing and let God do everything? Just tell me what to do, God, and I’ll follow your instructions!

Turns out, God’s instructions were clearly laid out for me in His word. I just needed to read it and understand it:

2 Cor. 10:4, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.”

It didn’t happen overnight, and it’s difficult to describe, but my husband, Brother Michael, and I eventually stopped focusing on the things that we could do and instead shifted our focus to the things that God was capable of doing for us.

Here’s one example. Some time after we decided to stop all medical interventions, we mustered up the courage to ask all of our close family and friends to join us in a day of fasting and prayer with the purpose of asking God to somehow bring children into our lives. It was kind of embarrassing to be so open, but we got so many heartfelt responses of love and support that it helped us to do what we knew was right — asking others to help us fight a spiritual battle we couldn’t win alone.

Shortly after this day of fasting and prayer, Brother Michael got a call out of the blue from another brother in the church who we didn’t know well. This brother said that he’d heard about us and had felt compelled to pray for us. While praying, he’d had a vision of a rosebud that bloomed into a fully open flower. The word of the Lord followed: “Thus saith the Lord, thus saith the Lord: I provided in days of old, and I will provide in this day and time. Tell them to trust and believe! Tell them to trust and believe, and I will provide their heart’s desire, thus saith the Lord!”

It was no coincidence that this happened soon after that fast and prayer day. It’s also no coincidence that God showed the brother a rosebud. I’d often said to my husband that I felt like the “flower that fails to bloom” in the song “My Lord Can,” (No. 79 in “The Songs of Zion”). Through this miraculous experience, God was personally and directly telling us that He’d one day make our “blossoms fill the room.”

And He did. Today, Brother Michael and I know that the two little “victories” we have toddling around the house were won for us through spiritual, not carnal, power.

Topic for next time: Taking my need to the mercy seat — learning how to really, truly trust in the great power of anointing.

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.