If God Moved Today, Would You Be Ready? | December 28, 2025

Between Christmas and New Year’s, desire often outruns discipline. Many set resolutions, yet fewer than ten percent endure, because wishes replace plans and prayer often substitutes for preparation. Scripture presses a different path: Hosea calls for breaking up fallow ground and seeking the Lord until He rains righteousness; 2 Chronicles frames humility, prayer, seeking, and repentance as conditions that ready a people for God’s healing; and Jesus’ parable of the talents shows that the kingdom advances through servants who steward what the Master entrusts. Readiness is not a feeling. It is obedience.

In Matthew 25, the Master entrusts immense wealth—talents equal to roughly twenty years’ wages—to His own bondservants. That detail matters. He gives to those who have already surrendered their will to His, each “according to his ability,” signaling profound confidence and clear expectation. The faithful invest immediately and double what was entrusted; the fearful bury it. Authority without ownership, action without usurpation, responsibility without sovereignty—these mark true stewardship. The Master’s return reveals the measure: “Well done” flows to those who multiply the Master’s resources, and their reward is not leisure but greater responsibility. In the kingdom, joy grows where obedience deepens.

Readiness requires whole-life stewardship. Humility, prayer, and repentance posture the heart; a renewed mind directs attention; forgiveness heals emotions and starves bitterness; bodily discipline honors the Spirit’s temple; financial generosity acknowledges all belongs to God; teachability equips a defense for the hope within. God is not coerced by our preparation, but He often chooses to bless prepared conditions—like dew that forms only when specific conditions are met, though never by formula. When theology is misused—“God is sovereign, so I need not act”—it becomes a rationale for inactivity. Rightly understood, God’s sovereignty emboldens risk, because the Master owns the outcome.

This call is both personal and communal. God has prepared good works in advance for each believer, and He also summons a people to humble themselves together, to pray together, to repent together. He can accomplish His purposes without us, but He delights to work through servants who are ready. The question for the coming year is simple and searching: not merely, “What do we want God to do?” but, “Are we prepared to receive what He intends to give and to invest it for His kingdom?”

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Desire without preparation isn’t readiness. Wanting God to move does not equal being ready to receive. Readiness is proved in obedience that breaks up fallow ground and takes the first faithful step. Intention without action keeps spiritual fields unplowed, leaving no place for righteousness to take root. Prepare the field before asking for rain. [23:03]
• 2. Stewardship demands humble, immediate action. Stewards have authority to act, but not to own or rewrite the mission. The faithful move quickly with what they’ve been given, trusting the Master’s character more than their fear. Delay, when God says “go,” is disobedience dressed up as caution. [21:48]
• 3. God’s reward is greater responsibility, not comfort. “Well done” does not lead to spiritual retirement; it leads to more work in the joy of the Master. Kingdom promotion expands trust and territory, not cushions and benches. Joy grows as faithfulness grows, because participation in the Master’s business is itself the reward. [24:00]
• 4. Prepared conditions invite, not coerce, God’s work. Like dew, grace often rests where God-shaped conditions are present—humility, prayer, seeking, repentance—yet it cannot be demanded. Preparation positions a life and a community under the path of God’s choosing. He remains sovereign over timing and outcome, while we remain responsible for readiness. [28:23]
• 5. Right theology fuels faithful participation. A distorted view of God produces distorted stewardship. True sovereignty does not excuse passivity; it empowers courage because the outcomes belong to Him. Good doctrine goes to work—healing, forgiving, giving, and risking—until the Master returns. [31:42]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:37] - The in-between days and resolutions
• [02:09] - Why most resolutions fail
• [04:25] - Wanting God versus readiness
• [06:09] - Facing the Giants: prepare for rain
• [07:40] - Hosea 10:12 and 2 Chronicles 7:14
• [08:44] - Parable of the talents
• [11:26] - What bondservant truly means
• [15:30] - The staggering value of a talent
• [18:40] - Called to steward, not to sit
• [20:34] - Immediate action versus fearful delay
• [23:25] - Faithfulness measured; reward is responsibility
• [24:28] - Tom Brady illustration
• [26:57] - Dew conditions: preparation not coercion
• [33:03] - Individual and communal readiness

Bible reading

• Matthew 25:14–30

Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.

The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.”

His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

The man with two bags of gold also came. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.”

His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. “Master,” he said, “I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.”

His master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Observation questions

1. In Matthew 25, who does the Master entrust with His possessions, and how are they described? What does “each according to his ability” suggest about the Master’s knowledge of His servants (vv. 14–15)?
2. Notice the time markers. What word describes the first servant’s response, and what did the third servant do instead (vv. 16, 18)?
3. What exactly is the reward the faithful servants receive, and how is it phrased? Does the reward emphasize comfort or responsibility (vv. 21, 23)?
4. A single talent was described as roughly twenty years’ wages. How does that scale of trust affect how we read the third servant’s fear ([15:30])?

Interpretation questions

1. If readiness is demonstrated through obedience rather than intention, how does that redefine what it means to “be ready” for God to work in a new year ([23:03])?
2. “Authority without ownership” and “action without usurpation” mark a steward’s role. What do these truths teach about serving in church, family, and work without trying to take the throne ([19:18])?
3. If grace often rests on prepared conditions but cannot be coerced, why might God still choose to wait even when humility, prayer, seeking, and repentance are present ([28:23])?
4. How does a right view of God’s sovereignty fuel courage to risk for the kingdom rather than excuse passivity ([31:42])?

Application questions

1. Break up fallow ground: Where is your heart “unplowed” right now—habits, hidden sin, neglected practices? What is one concrete step you will take this week to prepare your field before asking for rain (confession, reconciliation, setting a prayer time) ([07:40])?
2. Immediate obedience: Where has God already said “go,” but you’ve delayed under the name of caution? What would “go” look like in the next 48 hours (call, invite, sign up, share, give) ([21:48])?
3. Whole-life stewardship: Which area needs attention first—spiritual (humility/prayer/repentance), mental (renewed mind), emotional (forgiveness), physical (body as temple), financial (generosity), intellectual (teachability)? Name one specific action you will take this week ([28:54]).
4. Risk and sovereignty: What is one kingdom risk you believe God is prompting—starting a gospel conversation, opening your home, serving in a new role, giving sacrificially—because the Master owns the outcome? Set a clear next step and deadline ([31:42]).
5. Joy through responsibility: If God said “Well done” today, what “more” would you be ready to carry—people, projects, places? Where might He be inviting you to step into greater responsibility instead of seeking comfort ([24:00])?
6. Community readiness: What shared rhythm will this group commit to for 30 days—humbling ourselves, praying, seeking, repenting together? Choose a time, a simple plan, and a point person ([28:23]).
7. Burying or investing: Identify one resource God has entrusted to you (time, skill, influence, money, home). How will you invest it to multiply good for others this month rather than keep it safe ([21:30])?