13‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.
You will probably remember the story this verse comes from. All if Israel had fled from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. The Egyptian army had set off in pursuit and now the Israelites faced an impossible situation. They were backed up against the Red Sea, they had no army to fight for them and nowhere to run to. So, they all looked to Moses, the man who had stumbled over his words and refused to do the things that God had called him into because he had laboured under the belief that he wasn’t the right man for the job.
11What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, “Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians”? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’ They said.
I can’t imagine the level of stress Moses must have felt in that moment. He had become responsible for 600,000 people’s lives! But in his reply, there is no hint of hesitation. He doesn’t appear to question God or stumble over His words and I think of the places where others in the Bible have done so (Peter – perhaps?). “Do not be afraid. Stand firm…”
I think of the struggles I’ve had in my own life, the times when I’ve faced conflict, or I’ve had some duty to fulfil that terrified me. Or those times when I’ve had to deal with a confrontation with someone else. Or I’ve had to face redundancy or a health problem. In those times I want to hear the voice of Moses telling me to “Stand firm.” Or to “Not be afraid” when I was fretting my socks off. But I have to ask myself if I have ever stood as close to God as he did? Or, if I have leaned in close enough to God to know exactly what he was saying to me. The honest answer is undoubtedly, not close enough.
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Application:
Ask yourself these questions: How close are you to God? How close do you feel to him? What do you need to do to get close enough to hear His words in the way that Moses did?
Prayer:
Lord God, help me to lean in to You more deeply. Help me to hear Your voice more clearly. Help me to know how Your will and Your purposes are being worked out in my life. Help me to stand firm free from fear in the power of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.