Be still

DEVOTION

EXODUS

BE STILL

Ex 14:1-14

14:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 "Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. 3 Pharaoh will think, 'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.' 4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." So the Israelites did this. 5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, "What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!" 6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. 9 The Egyptians — all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen and troops — pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon. 10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" 13 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. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

NIV

It is one thing to following the leading of the Lord, it is entirely something different to be still. The Israelites were alright following after the pillar of smoke by day and seeing the pillar of fire at night giving them light. They did as the Lord said, they traveled in the direction he led. Everything was going according to plan. The plagues did what they were supposed to do, Pharaoh relented and let them all go, including all their livestock. They had plundered the Egyptians of much gold and silver. They were free from their misery and headed to a land flowing with milk and honey. All was well. But wait, there is more. Now God has them travel to a place next to the Red Sea and with no other way to go, they see the entire Egyptian army led by Pharaoh himself marching after them. Now their tune changes and they grumble at Moses. At the first sign of adversity it seems their faith in God has vanished. They see their physical situation only with their own understanding. They consider their circumstance to be the worst possible and cry out about it would have been better to be mistreated slaves than to be buried in this God forsaken wilderness. Do we see any parallels to our lives? Are we only looking at our physical situation with our own understanding? Are we discontent with where the Lord has led us? Do we wish we could have gone back and maybe done something differently? Maybe we made a mistake about hearing him tell us to come to the place we are? Maybe we would not be experiencing this situation if we would have done something else, or gone someplace else, took a different position at work, or applied at a different company, or moved to a different place. When we are faced with some adversity do we think the Lord has led us to the wrong place? When the children of Israel cried out to Moses and asked him was it because there were no graves in Egypt that he brought them out here, it sure seems that was a bit sarcastic. They were convinced their death was at hand, the situation was the worst possible in their thinking. But Moses, on the other hand, knew God was about to do something mighty. We are not told in the narrative that God had informed Moses of exactly what he was going to do. For all we know is that God told Moses that Pharaoh and his army would come after them, but that he would gain glory for what he was going to do through Pharaoh and his army. God would gain the glory through a bunch of unbelievers. That is a lesson in itself, but today we take our lesson from the response of Moses to 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. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

No matter the situations we face in life, do not be afraid, stand firm. When we stand firm we will see the deliverance the LORD will bring us today. We will not have to face that adversity again, ever, never again. The LORD will fight for us; we need only be still. Isn’t that a difficult thing to do? Stand firm and be still.

Ps 46:10

10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

NIV

We want to take charge of our own situation most, if not all of the time. Some would say, “God gave us a brain, he intends for us to use it”, others say, “God gave us our ability and he intends for us to make use of it”. But the fact remains, there are times when we just cannot do anything. First and foremost we cannot save ourselves from the clutches of Satan, only God can save us. But this principle also applies to our entire lives. We think we might be able to fix our situation, but that is only an illusion set before us by Satan, so we will not trust the Lord. This being still may not actually apply to our physical stance, although it certainly was for the Israelites. This being still could mean in our heart, to still our hearts, but it also could apply to our physically being still as well. Now that is not to say we should not be doing something, but what we should be doing is following the leading of the Lord. He might well tell us to do something which causes the situation to become better. But in all reality it would appear the best path for us, the best response to life situations is to not be afraid, stand firm, that would be in our faith, and be still, so we can watch what God is about to do for us, in us and through us. Then the world around us will know he is the Lord. No fear, keep the faith and be still.