Being still doesn’t mean waiting around passively. (Psalm 40:10)
It means being an engaged audience as you watch God do His thing. It’s not a sin to make plans in your life and hold them with an open hand. And it’s certainly not a sin to let God bring things and people to your mind while you bring them back to Him in prayer. That’s a great activity to do sometimes, and plus, it’s free!
God will always provide a way out of sinning when you’re tempted. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
There’s a point when you can choose whether you’ll step into sin, but even before that, there’s a point when you can choose whether you’ll make yourself vulnerable to temptation. Grab hold of that escape rope before you reach that point— you’ll be glad you did, even if you’re afraid it might be awkward. Priorities.
When making a decision, grace is not an excuse to choose a sinful path. Grace is always a choice to believe that God is right. (Romans 7-8)
Grace is what helps us escape the paralysis of “Oh no, if I take any risk at all, I might sin,” and move onto the freedom of, “I can take risks in faith, because I can watch God cover over all my missteps, whether they were made in sin or in a mere lack of perfect judgment.” Now it’s more complicated than that, but I’m still taking a risk and saying something about it.
God doesn’t see you differently when you mess up, He doesn’t stop loving you, and He doesn’t stop believing in you. (Romans 5:8, Exodus 6:6, Hebrews 10:11-14, etc. times a thousand)
That’s grace. That’s the freedom that will grow you in your character, even moreso than following rules in fear of failing. You’re golden!
If Jesus gave me his all, it only makes sense that I give him my all. (1 John 3:16)
Putting in effort toward something is not inherently “trusting in my strength instead of God’s.” Any strength I have is on loan from God, whether I acknowledge it or not. My effort is one wing of the plane, and God’s is another (though His is made of like platinum or something). The plane won’t fly without both.
