A friend shared a verse this week that really gave me rest on a day when I was feeling attacked from within my mind about who I am in Christ and was simply overwhelmed with life’s circumstances.
That verse is Exodus 14:14, in which Moses says to the fleeing Israelites “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
By itself that verse is uplifting and calming. But when you read the surrounding text, it develops a much deeper meaning.
Moses had led them out of Egypt, but they knew Pharaoh’s soldiers were coming after them. So they reach the Red Sea and tell 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? 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!”
In the face of certain death and re-enslavement, Moses responds, “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.”
In the very next verse, God responds to Moses, saying, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on,” before God uses Moses’ staff to part the Red Sea.
What are you facing today? A diagnosis, job loss or death of a loved one? Have you tried to fight your own fight or been tempted to go back to the world’s ways because it would simply be easier?
Heed the words of Moses. Stand firm and you will see deliverance. But stand firm in the stillness of knowing the Lord will fight for you.
If there’s any doubt he’ll fight for you, turn to the New Testament and see that he sent his son, Jesus, to die for you on the cross.
God wasn’t cheering from the sidelines, “Go, Bill!” He said “I know you can’t win this fight on your own, so let me fight it for you by sending the true champion.”
Remember also not to forget the times in your life that you faced an impossible situation like the Israelites and the Red Sea and God has swooped in and done a miracle in your life. It can be easy to forget, just like the Israelites did as they wondered through the dessert for all those years.
Not only did the Lord part the sea, but he sent bread from heaven and caused water to flow from a rock.
Each time, however, the people forgot how BIG their God was. Let us not forget that the God in heaven that we serve is a BIG God. And he loves you and yearns for you to see the BIG sacrifice he made for you.
