Genesis 32:7-8

Genesis 32:7-8. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands; and said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.

He used the means that he judged to be the best under the existing circumstances, and I believe that God intends us always to use our best wits and judgment, and then to fall back upon him in confiding prayer just as if we had done nothing at all. Do everything as if God were not about to help you, and then trust in God as if you had done nothing at all. An Arab said to Mahomet, "I let my camel run loose, and trusted it to Providence," but Mahomet replied, "You should have tied it up first, and then trusted it to Providence;" and Jacob was very much of that mind and a very sensible mind it was, not at all inconsistent with the very best of faith.