“Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.'” — Exodus 14:13-14
As I was just recently reading Exodus 14, I came across this incredible truth. Moses is leading the Israelites through the wilderness. The plagues have just occurred in Egypt, where God shows Himself faithful to His people. All of a sudden, they seem to forget how big God really is. They take their eyes and focus off Him and get scared.
They’re afraid. They’re nervous. They’re anxious. They focus on the enemy. Fear creeps in as they see Pharaoh and the Egyptians starting to attack them. They begin to complain and attack Moses with the “Why?! Why didn’t you just let us stay in Egypt as slaves? Why bring us out to this desert to die?”
Side note: “Hello, I’m God! Do you remember what I just did? Did you already forget what you just saw and experienced? The gnats, the flies, the blood, the locusts, the boils, the hail. Come on people, I am God! I got this! I’ll protect you just like I did when you were in Egypt.”
As a leader, Moses is now facing tension in the camp. His advice in verses 13 and 14 is this:
1) Don’t be afraid
2) Stand firm
3) Watch God’s deliverance
4) God will fight for us
5) Just be still
I love it! Basically, Moses knew God had this. His faith was bigger than his fear. He assured his people that God’s got this. “He will guide, lead and protect us. Let’s let God be God. We need to be still and sometimes just get out of the way.”
Wow! As I continue to read the story, I’m in awe as I see God’s protection and deliverance of His people. It’s not always the way we think. We have our own ideas of how God should do it. We ask God the “why” questions. We formulate our own plans and agenda on how He should heal us, eliminate the pain, get rid of the mountain, get rid of the problem or difficulty. But we are not God. He’s sovereign. He’s in control. He’s in charge. That’s why He’s God. It’s not our job to understand, just trust.
God gives us fearless faith. Just like the Israelites, He will make a way to pass through our “Red Sea.” He will bring us to the other side. He may not always remove the mountain, but God — our omnipotent and holy God — will make a way for us to climb that mountain. He gives us the strength and courage to take that first step into the “Red Sea” and we just trust. We just obey. He peels back the water. He allows us with peace to walk through that trial, that difficulty, that pain. Sure, it’s scary when we look behind and see the enemy chasing us. It’s frightening to look on the right and the left and see the wall of water ready to crash down on us. But God is with us. He’s got this. Always has. Always will.
Remember Peter in Matthew 14: When his eyes were completely focused on Christ, he had the faith to get out of the boat and walk on water. Peter walked on water! God wants us to get uncomfortable — to do what’s possible only with Him, to walk on the water. We start to sink, just like Peter, when we take our eyes off of Christ.
— Jim Good
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