Wait and be Still

"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." 

- Exodus 14:14

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Have you ever been wronged by someone in your life, and you feel like you have to make it right, you have to have the other person suffer like they made you suffer, or you feel like you have to win? 

I've felt this way a few times in my life. Where I've rolled up my sleeves, plotted my attack, carefully outlined my points of defense, and went forward guns blazing. It's always been my personality to attack things head on, not to mince words, or shy away from a confrontation. You may say it's the Irish and Italian in me, an unusual mix of fight and passion. 

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But as a Christian, I've learned that this approach, is not was pleases God. Though He made me with a strong personality, fight and passion, He requires us to control ourselves, and trust in Him to do our fighting. It wouldn't be right for me, to raise my fists and fight for myself, no matter how much I want to. 

Instead, scripture tells us we need to be meek, gentle, forgiving, compassionate, full of grace, patient, humble, and loving. God tells us that vengeance is His (Romans 12:19) and it's not for us to seek revenge ourselves. We are told not to fight, and to trust in God to make all things right in the end. 

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In Exodus 14, Moses is leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, and they are being pursued by Pharaoh, and all of his army.  The Israelites, as usual, are complaining and yelling at Moses for taking them out into the wilderness where they will surely die. But God has already told Moses to the plan, and Moses obediently moves forward, and tells the Israelites: "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today." (v. 13) And much to the surprise of all the grumbling Israelites, they watch and see Moses raise his staff, they watch the Red Sea divide before them, a dry path provided under their feet, they cross over to land, and watch as the Egyptians who are close behind begin to cross as well. But instead of finding a safe, dry path, God releases the water, and it washes over the Egyptians and wipes them all out. And the Israelites, who were required to do nothing but obey, stood in awe of the work God had just done for them. 

"The LORD will fight for you, you need only to be still."

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There are going to be times in our life when we feel like there's nothing we can do but turn and fight. There are going to be times when we feel pushed up against a wall, and there's no way out but to make our point known. But God shows us here, that it's not up to us to fight. We need to just be silent. We need to just be still. 

We need to trust in The God of Israel, to be the same God for us, that He was that day for the Israelites. We need to trust that He is working in our lives, and that in the end, He will make all wrongs right. 

We are children of The Most High God, The Almighty, and He will always have victory, He will always win, and because He has made us heirs, His victory becomes our victory, and through Him, we will win. 

We can rest in our LORD today, knowing that He is at work, and all we are required to do is wait, and be still.