Stand Still

How easily we forget what they Lord has done for us.  Just let a new problem come along and all of a sudden panic. Our fear overcomes our faith and we start to complain, stress out, blame other people, take our eyes off God and start focusing on the problem.  We very seldom take a moment to realize that the very place that we are is where God intended for us to be so that once again He can show us who is in control.  I was reading in Exodus, a very familiar passage about when the children of Israel reached the Red Sea.  Funny thing about this story, is that they were following the path God had set for them...out of Egypt to the Promised Land.  But my question is why would God not put together a path that bypassed the Red Sea?  He knew that they didn't have any boats.  I also believe that He knew that Pharaoh's army would soon come after them.  And what did the children of Israel do as soon as they saw that Red Sea, they started complaining.  They forgot that God had just delivered them from captivity after over four hundred years.  Sound familiar....sounds just like me.

One of the things that I am working towards is a 'dependence on God that is so absolute and complete that the gray areas don't have to be defined'.  What are the gray areas?  For me, it is those times when I'm just not sure.  I know and believe that God can, but in the back of my mind I'm still a little worried.  It is the 'in between times'.  The times when you find yourself between a rock and a hard place.  The Children of Israel hadn't developed this kind of dependence yet.  If they had, when they came to the Red Sea they would have stood there and waited to see what God was going to do to deliver them.  In fact, they would have started praising Him right then because they knew that it was already done.  However, at this moment in time all they could see was the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh's army approaching fast behind them.  Now you may not have a Red Sea in front of you or an army behind you but I would almost bet that there have been circumstances in your life where you have been following the directions of the Lord and yet you find yourself in a situation that seems impossible.  So what do you do?  Moses simply told the people to 'stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today'.  (Ex. 14:13)  I can only imagine how hard that was for them to do.  My first instinct would have been to do something.  Things are too bad.  But God's instructions to Moses was to tell them to stand still.  I have found that when I try to fix situations myself I usually just make them worse, especially when I am afraid.  The Israelites were talking so crazy that they were wishing they were back in Egypt.  An example of your fear becoming fatalistic.  I wonder what would happen if the next time you found yourself stuck between a rock and a hard place with no where to turn you decided to stand still.  Leave it all in the hands of the Lord.  You decided to wait for His direction and simply kept moving on through.  You see, I do believe there is some truth to the saying, "If God brings you to it, He will most certainly bring you through it."  Instead of letting your fear overcome your faith, allow your faith to overcome your fear.  After all hasn't God already proven Himself to you as the only one who is able to bring you out of the worst circumstances.  Why not trust Him?

Dear Lord,

The harder life gets, the harder for me it is to trust You.  It's not that I haven't seen what you can do. It's just hard for me not to see what's going on in front of me.  I want to be totally dependent on You.  It has been a struggle thus far for me to take my hands off, be still and let you be God.  I know that I cannot handle it on my own, so today I am giving it all over to you. I am tired of worrying and trying to fix it on my own.  Thank you for the places You have taken me thus far, even though I couldn't always see the purpose. I know that You always know what is best for me.  Thank you Lord for my journey.  In Jesus' Wonderful Name Amen.