Moses told the people, Fear not; stand still (firm, confident, undismayed) and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians you have seen today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest. (Exodus 14:13-14)
It is one thing to stand still - quite another to be at peace, remaining at rest, while the world whirls past you at speeds capable of making your head spin! The people of Israel are being led away from the slavery of Egypt - Pharaoh's army close on their heels, not really willing to let them leave the land where they had been servants for years. Imagine being an unorganized, start-up nation, no armies of your own, and only a "dream" of freedom. Here you are, faced with the armies behind, and a huge, raging body of water before - one direction ensures bondage, the other promises hope - but something stands between the past and the future. The water was really the dividing line between the past and the promise of hope. As the "past" closed in, they pressed closer to their future state - but there was a "hurdle" of sorts - the Red Sea. In the presence of their "past" and the hope of their "future" stood the ominous "present". Ever find yourself at the intersection of past and future? If you have, you probably understand the magnitude of the "present". Too many of us want to deal with our "past". Just like Israel, we see it as though we are being pursued by a huge army too great for us to fight. Too big for us to escape - encroaching upon the "space" we have put between us and it. We also see the "future" - but it is obscured by the impossibilities of what appears to be in our "present".
If you are like me, you probably see your "Red Sea" before you, then turn to the right or left, hoping to find some other "passage" into the future. You hope for a "shallow" spot, not so ominous and seemingly impossible. We seem to hope for the "easy way out", but the truth is, there is no better "crossing point" than the one God brings us to the first time! They stood - right where God had brought them. Their passage across the raging waters seemed impossible - as though what laid between their past and their future would engulf them and take them under. It is not uncommon for us to feel this way when we are making a clean break from our past. We will ALWAYS face barriers between where we were and where we need to be - it is in the presence of these barriers where our faith is grown. Fear NOT. Stand STILL. SEE the salvation God will work for you today. Three important things, are they not? In the presence of the barriers to our break from the past and our walking into our future state, we most often find moments of fear - paralyzing, crippling, emotionally charged fear. We find it hard to stand still, wanting to find another way - because our escaping what is in our past is just that important to us! The promise of what God has provided for our future is never really ours until we SEE the salvation God will work for us TODAY! It is in TODAY he breaks the bonds of the past, opening up the passage into our future.
The past you see today, you shall NEVER see again! The pursuing force of the past you shall NEVER see again - when you choose to cross exactly where God brings you today. The problem we continually face is choosing to look for the shallow crossing - leaving an opportunity for our past to pursue. It is in the "depths" of God's designed crossing point that our past is overwhelmed with his power! It is the Lord who fights for us in our present when the crossing point between our past and our future is exactly where he brings us. We don't realize he already has prepared the very thing which will break the connection with the past. Two things he asks of us as we face the crossing point - remain at rest and hold our peace. That means no "worry words" and no "restless roving". Restless roving - the movement we feel compelled to do whenever we are faced with something we don't understand - something which seems to overwhelm us. Worry words - those expressions of doubt which surface in the very presence of the challenge of "passing through" what God brings us to. Don't ever forget this instruction - when we are willing to stand still and watch in expectation for what God will do, the "passage" which seemed impossible will open up before us. It is in the stillness and submission of our spirit that God is free to act. We each have a past to escape and a future to embrace. In between the escape and the embrace comes what seems beyond the realms of possibility. It is the presence of these three forces we must choose to stand still and remain at peace. In crossing exactly where God places us, we shall realize the escape and be right where we need to be to embrace the possibilities of our future. Just sayin!
It is one thing to stand still - quite another to be at peace, remaining at rest, while the world whirls past you at speeds capable of making your head spin! The people of Israel are being led away from the slavery of Egypt - Pharaoh's army close on their heels, not really willing to let them leave the land where they had been servants for years. Imagine being an unorganized, start-up nation, no armies of your own, and only a "dream" of freedom. Here you are, faced with the armies behind, and a huge, raging body of water before - one direction ensures bondage, the other promises hope - but something stands between the past and the future. The water was really the dividing line between the past and the promise of hope. As the "past" closed in, they pressed closer to their future state - but there was a "hurdle" of sorts - the Red Sea. In the presence of their "past" and the hope of their "future" stood the ominous "present". Ever find yourself at the intersection of past and future? If you have, you probably understand the magnitude of the "present". Too many of us want to deal with our "past". Just like Israel, we see it as though we are being pursued by a huge army too great for us to fight. Too big for us to escape - encroaching upon the "space" we have put between us and it. We also see the "future" - but it is obscured by the impossibilities of what appears to be in our "present".
If you are like me, you probably see your "Red Sea" before you, then turn to the right or left, hoping to find some other "passage" into the future. You hope for a "shallow" spot, not so ominous and seemingly impossible. We seem to hope for the "easy way out", but the truth is, there is no better "crossing point" than the one God brings us to the first time! They stood - right where God had brought them. Their passage across the raging waters seemed impossible - as though what laid between their past and their future would engulf them and take them under. It is not uncommon for us to feel this way when we are making a clean break from our past. We will ALWAYS face barriers between where we were and where we need to be - it is in the presence of these barriers where our faith is grown. Fear NOT. Stand STILL. SEE the salvation God will work for you today. Three important things, are they not? In the presence of the barriers to our break from the past and our walking into our future state, we most often find moments of fear - paralyzing, crippling, emotionally charged fear. We find it hard to stand still, wanting to find another way - because our escaping what is in our past is just that important to us! The promise of what God has provided for our future is never really ours until we SEE the salvation God will work for us TODAY! It is in TODAY he breaks the bonds of the past, opening up the passage into our future.
The past you see today, you shall NEVER see again! The pursuing force of the past you shall NEVER see again - when you choose to cross exactly where God brings you today. The problem we continually face is choosing to look for the shallow crossing - leaving an opportunity for our past to pursue. It is in the "depths" of God's designed crossing point that our past is overwhelmed with his power! It is the Lord who fights for us in our present when the crossing point between our past and our future is exactly where he brings us. We don't realize he already has prepared the very thing which will break the connection with the past. Two things he asks of us as we face the crossing point - remain at rest and hold our peace. That means no "worry words" and no "restless roving". Restless roving - the movement we feel compelled to do whenever we are faced with something we don't understand - something which seems to overwhelm us. Worry words - those expressions of doubt which surface in the very presence of the challenge of "passing through" what God brings us to. Don't ever forget this instruction - when we are willing to stand still and watch in expectation for what God will do, the "passage" which seemed impossible will open up before us. It is in the stillness and submission of our spirit that God is free to act. We each have a past to escape and a future to embrace. In between the escape and the embrace comes what seems beyond the realms of possibility. It is the presence of these three forces we must choose to stand still and remain at peace. In crossing exactly where God places us, we shall realize the escape and be right where we need to be to embrace the possibilities of our future. Just sayin!
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