“And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever (Ex.14:13).”
We know little about standing still. We are a people on the move.
But there are some wise saints who know what it means to stand still in the midst of life’s demands, and I am thankful for the handful in my own life that teach me well. Without their wisdom and guidance and the Word of God, my tendency is to follow the world into a frantic state of busy-ness.
I try to fix every problem that comes my way.
I try to worry my solution into existence.
I try to pay bills with worry when the money isn’t there.
I try to fix the flaws of others while my own go unchecked.
Moses was leading a nation of oppressed people to freedom. They didn’t even know that they weren’t free because they had nothing to compare it to. Besides, they worked so hard, they didn’t have time to look around.
As Moses was leading them out, they were being chased by their oppressors – an army of them. And they were being led by a man who was leading them right toward the Red Sea. Some of those people were in the front and could feel the water rush against them as they ran into the sea in the wake of Moses radical faith. Some of those people were in the back of the mass and close enough to see Pharoah’s army closing in on them.
There were some in the middle who couldn’t see anything, and they just kept blindly running. They were the most helpless of all – being pushed by the crowd behind them. They may not have even known why everybody was running.
They were just running.
Isn’t this how we live today?
Are we doing more blind running than intentional living?
Everybody is running and few know why. Where are we all going? Why are we in such a hurry to get from here to the land called “over there?” Even in the church, we run from this mission to that, this conference to that one often missing the lost and dying world between conferences.
God knew that Moses was scared and running for his life and leading a nation with him. Yet, God, in His infinite wisdom says to Moses, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord which He will show you today…” I know that Moses spoke these words, but I can’t imagine for one minute that this was Moses’s human thought. These words were divine inspiration. He probably wondered himself what he was saying. God even went on to tell Moses “The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still” (Ex.14:14).
I challenge you today to slow down. I challenge myself to the same. I pray that when I feel anxiety rushing up in my spirit today, that the Lord will quicken my spirit and give me willingness to breathe deep and keep in step with Him.
Forgive us Lord for running blind and not living out Your designed purpose. Help us see the lost in our path today as we remember who we are and why we’re here. Help us be intentional about our mission to love others well and not get lost in the buzz of busy-ness on our way.
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