The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still.
Exodus 14:14 (NIV)
Stillness is a state, not a destination. Stillness is the atmosphere that attracts God’s attention. Why? Because it shows unwavering faith in who He is , and as we know, without faith it is impossible to please God. If anything, it is a worship to Him.
“Peace, be still.” Those are the words Jesus spoke to the raging sea when His disciples woke Him up in a frenzy. The natural environment was speaking death to them, while their Master, in His stillness continued to sleep.
“Teacher, don’t you care that we are going to die? “ they asked him in sincere fear. How many times do we ask God that same question? Don’t you care I have bills to pay and no job? Don’t you care my family is breaking apart? Don’t you care I am being humiliated? Don’t you care the auctioneers have come and taken everything? Don’t you care that the person I was to spend my forever with is divorcing me? Don’t you care? Don’t you care? You feel completely helpless and abandoned by God. And even if you don’t utter the words, the tears falling down your face, tell a tale of fear and abandonment.
Yet, all the while, they had God in their midst. You see, when you pay attention to the raging seas, you forget that He, who created heaven and earth and all that is in them, is right there in the boat with you. He is not running around in fear. He is not there to validate your fear. He is there to bring stillness to your life.
When Jesus awoke, He said to them, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
When Jesus spoke, He merely transferred His inner state of stillness to the external environment. He also taught them that faith and fear cannot go hand in hand. You cannot exalt God ( through faith) and your circumstances ( through fear). Whichever you exalt will become your reality.
This is the same lesson God taught Moses in Exodus 14. The Israelites were in the desert, when they saw the Egyptian army pursuing them. What was their instinct? Their instinct was to exalt the situation they were facing (fear) rather than to look to God (faith) who had brought them out of Egypt. They said to Moses, 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!
How I can relate to the Israelites! You can so fear the situation you are going through, that you fondly look back( at the place God delivered you from). But hear the word of the Lord, delivered by Moses, “The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still.”
Stillness does not mean you stand about, doing nothing. It means you stand on His Word, in faith, and you follow His lead. In verse 15 of the same chapter, The Lord says to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.
And as we were taught in Sunday School, the Lord defeated the Egyptians, on behalf of the Israelites.
What situation are you facing? Look to God in faith, listen to His still voice, act in obedience to what He tells you, and watch Him fight your battles for you.