STAND FIRM PART #3

STAND FIRM PART #3

There are so many more lessons to learn from this passage that we have
camped out on the past several days, but here are several more thoughts.
Remember what the Israelites are facing. They have just been set free to
leave Egypt -- 3 million of them! Pharaoh changes his mind and sends his
army after them -- several thousand men with 600 chariots. As the
children of Israel turn back to look, they see this huge army advancing
in on them. Ahead of them is the Red Sea -- bottom line -- they were up
against an impossible wall -- there was only one way out -- to cross the
Red Sea!

Put yourself in THEIR place -- if they did nothing -- they were doomed.
If they moved forward -- well what idiot is going to attempt to walk
across a sea that was fairly deep. Is Moses crazy? I missed giving you
the little phrase that came before our verse, "Stand firm and see the
salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today!" -- It is
the phrase "DO NOT FEAR!"

Charles Swindoll writes profoundly about this event in his new
devotional, GREAT DAYS WITH THE GREAT LIVES -- Daily Insight from Great
Lives of the Bible (published by Word): "Humanly speaking, predicaments
are terrible experiences. If you stay in one long enough, you will begin
to question the very roots of your faith. By and by you'll begin to look
for someone to blame; usually it'll be somebody in leadership. That's
why I am so impressed with Moses' response. He didn't say, as most are
prone to say, 'God helps those who help themselves.' People think that
familiar saying comes from the Bible. It doesn't. It comes from the pit.
No, God helps the HELPLESS.

Note Moses' more biblical response: 'Do not fear!' What strange counsel.
Can't you hear his fellow Israelites? 'Hey, Moses, the Egyptians are
around the corner. They've got chariots and bows and arrows and pointy
spears. And you're saying, 'Don't fear?' What's the matter with you,
man? Do you need a change in your eyeglass prescription? Can't you see
they are coming? Moses replied: 'But I am still saying to you, 'Don't
fear!'

But Moses isn't done. After telling them not to be afraid, he has a
second piece of counsel for his followers: 'Stand still.' And a third:
'Watch.' And a fourth: 'The LORD will fight for you while you keep
silent.'

Now there's a prescription for people in an inescapable predicament!
Don't be afraid, stand still, watch God come through, quit talking! The
hardest for us if the fourth, because we just HAVE to complain or tell
somebody what a predicament we're in. But God doesn't need to be
informed. He KNOWS the predicament. He is simply waiting for us to calm
down and keep silent.

When you are in a cul-de-sac, led by God to that tight place, it is
there you will discover some phenomenal surprises designed JUST FOR YOU.
That's why Moses said, 'Look, let's stand still! There's a great
blessing here for us that we'll miss if we turn tail and run!'

You know the common response to panic? First, we become afraid. Second,
we run! Third, we fight! Fourth, we tell everybody.

God's counsel is just the opposite. Don't be afraid. Stand still. Watch
him work. Keep quiet. It's then that He does His best work on our
behalf. HE takes over! He then handles our predicament opposite the way
we'd do it. The Lord is tapping His foot, waiting for us to wait."

I don't know about you -- but the Lord has certainly been teaching me
this powerful truth this week. God bless you.