Day Thirty-One
“Stand By and See”
But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” Exodus 14:13-14
There are going to be times when God is going to lead you into trying circumstances. In Exodus 13-14 God led the children of Israel out of Egypt but to a place where they found their backs against the wall. Through His servant Moses, God led His people to a place where they were hemmed in – the shores of the Red Sea - and then Pharaoh changed his mind about giving Israel her freedom and pursued them with a vengeance (Exodus 14:5-9.) This scenario had all the makings of a slaughter.
Israel had no trained military personnel. They had been in captivity for four centuries. They were hemmed in geographically by mountains and the sea and it appeared that God, who was the one who led them to camp in this position, had abandoned His people to die (Exodus 13:17-22, Exodus 14:1-2.) The Egyptian army chased down Israel with six hundred select chariots, horses, and the full might of the army. This was an all out-assault - let there be no question as to the resolve that Pharaoh had to bring the Israelites back into bondage.
When the Israelite people saw the intimidating forces of the Egyptian army, they were very frightened (Exodus 14:10.) There was no escape route. They could not fight their way out. From their perspective, the situation looked absolutely hopeless, but it is in the midst of hopeless situations that God does some of His best work.
The Israelites began to grumble, doubt, and speak words of complaint against God and against Moses. God’s response was to call Moses to more faith. He was called to hold his staff above the Red Sea to divide it, with the assurance that the whole nation would cross on dry ground. God further assured Moses that He would deal with Egypt once and for all. In essence the Lord spoke through Moses, “Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord. The Lord will fight for you.”
Some of you need to hear that today. You are tempted to believe that your enemy is going to win. You see the impossible odds you are up against and furthermore you cannot see any way of escape. You are scared and doubt is defeating your faith. You want to complain but God is telling you to keep silent, to stand by and watch the miracle that He is about to do. God is about to fight on your behalf and in ways you could not have imagined. He is about to step in and flex is mighty muscles to move mightily in your midst. He is about to step in and save the day.
What do you see with your eyes? What is your enemy doing? Now that you have identified that, what do you believe? Jesus said in Mark 9:23 that all things are possible to the one who believes. Your eyes might be telling you that a great army is about to descend on you and defeat you, but God is whispering “Do not believe what you see.” Do not believe what those around you might be saying. God is saying, “Choose to believe Me!”
God did help Israel that historic day. He held the Egyptians back with a pillar of cloud all night long. During this time Moses was called to hold his staff over the Red Sea so God could divide it. As the waters were held back, every single one of the children of Israel walked across dry land to safety on the other side, some of them only able to see the people in front of them and the people behind them. Yet even through the darkness of night the God of Israel was working on their behalf, saving them in a more magnificent fashion than any of them could ever have imagined.
Today we are able to refer to that story and see that God did indeed fight for His children, defeating a powerful, determined enemy. If you find yourself in the same position today, do you complain and murmur or do you pray your heart out and trust God with the outcome? He is not limited by your dead-end circumstances and He is not intimidated by the impossible odds you are up against. Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord as He fights for you.
Steps to Trust and Obey:
What enemy is pursuing you and what stands in the way of your victory?
Are you murmuring and complaining today or praying in faith?
Do you believe that you will see the salvation of the Lord?
What does it mean to you to read that God is fighting for you while you remain silent?
As you pray you have a choice to make. It is the same choice that you have been called to make multiple times over the past few weeks. Will you believe or doubt?
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