You Need Only Be Still

"By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people...but I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord...the Lord will fight for you; you need only be still." Exodus 13:21-22;14:4;14

Wow. This passage is so chock full of God's wisdom I don't even know where to start! Perhaps there is no larger example of God exuding his mighty power than this complete passage (Exodus 13:17-14:28) where Moses and the Israelites are led through the bottom of the Red Sea. They were terrified. Trapped. Seemingly at death's door as Pharaoh's army approached seeking their destruction. They questioned Moses..."Why did you lead us here to die this way?". But their God had a plan. A plan they could not see or even comprehend. God would open up the sea and walk them through it's floor, delivering them from death and taking them to a land where prosperity reigned. 

We can draw several conclusions from this passage. First, God is always walking ahead of us and guiding us. We can count on this and follow his lead "day or night". As long as we remain in this position of dependence and of following, he will guide and reveal his plan. Second, God uses the darkness in our lives, the armies and battles, to reveal his glory and strength. If we are still and surrender to the fight, allowing the "army" to approach without losing our cool, God will fight and be glorified through us. This isn't always comfortable, is humbling, and often pretty darn difficult, but always the best place to be. Third, when God is glorified through us and when we can only see a vast ocean of "death" in front of us, God will reveal his mighty plan and open up the waterways...redeeming us in ways we never could imagine and bringing us a joy that blows everything else "out of the water" (ha!). 

What is the ocean in front of you today? Are you allowing God to lead or are you desperately trying to hold onto a situation that seems inevitably marked with destruction? Today's challenge is this: Be still. Let God lead. Allow Him to use whatever the situation is for his glory. Think you're going to drown in that ocean? Think again. He's going to open it wide and dry the land...and lead you to a place where you thought you'd never go. -jenna