The Lord Fights For You
But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”
Don’t be afraid? Stand still? Stay calm?
I can imagine the looks on the peoples’ faces upon hearing this from Moses. There were probably a few dropped jaws, involuntary guffaws, and shouts of disbelief. The Israelites were ex-slaves and refugees. They left behind everything they owned and knew to follow a man who claimed to have the word of God and currently faced a terrifying unknown future. I’m quite certain that I wouldn’t have been eager to trust Moses’s exhortation at this point.
Perhaps you or I will never know the fear and stress of having Pharaoh’s army after you. Nevertheless, we will know fear and stress in our own individual ways, not to mention the enemy who is stalking us constantly, just waiting for a chance to trip us up.
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.
I have a long standing struggle with someone close to me. Having endured years of abuse and disappointment from them, I was tired. I was fed up. I found myself wondering if it might be time to let go of this relationship for good. There was nothing to prove things would ever get better and my well of patience and forgiveness had run dry. I honestly felt I had nothing more I could possibly give that would change things between us. I talked to my counselor, my friends, my husband, and no one faulted me for wanting to end it.
But what do you do when it makes every bit of sense to run away from a situation and God asks you to stay still? Remember what the Bible says: The Lord himself will fight for you.
All the voices were telling me to do what felt right and leave (and it certainly was what I wanted to hear), but deep in my heart, I could feel a resistance from the Holy Spirit whispering “stay.”
It’s crazy to the world and makes no sense. But from God’s perspective, He needed me to trust Him so much that I could allow this reckless person to remain in my life. He was challenging me to literally pin my hope on Jesus instead of what they may or may not do next to send my head and heart spinning.
And where He wants me is in a position of confident hope and obedient trust (John 15:5). To run in this particular instance would have gone against where he wants me. Is it terrifying? Yes. But has God been faithful to you in the past? Can you trust Him with your future? Absolutely.
Can you think of a time where you felt God’s Word directly contradicted the popular opinion? What did you do and what would you do differently in the future?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Molly writes from her home in Ojai, CA where she also works full time as wife to Marco, mama to Lydia, and account specialist for a software company. She loves rain, early morning runs, and long road trips. Her happy place is a certain table at a local coffee shop with a pen, an empty notebook, and a few hours (and probably a few lattes!). Her writings can be found over at mollylgonzalez.com.