Even When I Let Go…

“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” —Exodus 14:14, NIV

The Israelites have left Egypt. Behind them is a country devastated as a consequence of the plagues that God has sent to “encourage” Pharaoh to let his people leave in peace and to display his glory. They also leave behind mourning mothers and shocked fathers holding their firstborn in their arms. That last plague was the most terrible of all.

But Pharaoh is still determined to bring back his slaves and pursues God’s people, catching them with their backs to the Red Sea and nowhere to hide. Exodus 14:14 are Moses’ words to a terrified people. They, too, have forgotten all that they saw God do on their behalf in Egypt just a short time earlier.

How easy it is to forget. I promised myself that in this new year I would stop worrying about a particular “thorn in the flesh” and the first thing I did this morning was start “entertaining” that concern once again. So these words from Moses are particularly relevant this morning.

What Moses said just before the quote for today is an important part of the spiritual equation: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today” —Exodus 14:13, NIV. It’s hard to stand still when all you want to do is run. It’s hard to stand firm when your knees are so weak from fear you feel certain that they have somehow been converted into gelatin.

The trick is not to focus on the object of the fear but to focus on the source of deliverance. The One who had already revealed his glory, shown his might, and provided his salvation, had not changed his plan overnight. God was still committed to the rescue of his people. He would not fail to do today what he had already done yesterday.

Don’t be afraid. Stand firm. Stand still. You and I can’t fall out of, or be snatched out of, a hand as big as God’s.