What does it mean to be STILL / SILENT  before God? I read yesterday in Exodus 14:14 

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

14 The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”

Living Bible (TLB)

14 The Lord will fight for you, and you won’t need to lift a finger!”

New International Version (NIV)

14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

This is a interesting verse. I admit I struggle to find a simple answer of what it is asking of me. The Israelite people still needed to walk with their families across the Red sea bed. They still needed to apply themselves for the journey ahead, they still needed to not be struck or paralized by fear knowing that Pharaoh and his many chariots and army were in close pursuit behind them. This didn’t mean they sat down and waited for the hand of God to literally pick them up (all 600,000 thousand men plus woman and children) and plant them on the other side of the Red Sea. 

Lets not forget that the Israelites where in Egypt for 430 years. And their deliverance didn’t happen over night either. 

Part of me thinks that the miracle God performed there was so great that he wanted the Israelite people to really experience it. Yes, he could have just transported them to the other side. But wouldn’t it be much harder to forget all the hours they spent walking, pushing their belongings, their plunder from the Egyptians. All the time it must have taken to drag their live stock, children and older aged family members stepping over the sea weed, to almost suffocate from the smell of raw fish , salt and what ever else is at the bottom of the sea.  You see this way I think God gave the people another blessing. It was of even more memories of how He delivered them from their slavery in Egypt. Sometimes one event even a monumental event can be easily forgotten. But hours upon hours of slugging through the mud and muck, the smell, the sight , the sound of animals, babies even the sound of the water being held back could not of been a quiet thing.  I think this experience was burned into their memories. Let’s not forget they all just lived to tell of the first Passover where they literally heard the cries and screams of those mooring around them. Exodus tells us there was not a single house hold that was left with out a dead person to remind them how the Hebrew God was powerful and meant business. 

This is how I understand why things may take longer then I think they need to take (in my mind). Why the hurt of losing friends and family from our team lasts longer then we think we can handle. Why it has to take so long to feel comfortable learning and speaking another language! Why you can’t just move into a new country and pray for your kids to have friends and BAMB see it happen in a matter of a few weeks or months. I think if it would happen that fast we would miss so much.  So much of the God moments.  So much of the Lord leading us when we feel tired and not sure how much more we can hang on. You see this way He will get all the glory. Because our pride will know there was no way I could have hung on that long. Even the hanging on was blessing from the Lord.

Now back to the so called doing nothing part, the being still part. I don’t think this means what it sounds like. God wants us to still our minds from all the turning. All the brainstorming of how I can solve this situation. How can I change our current circumstance? When I actually stop and know that the answer isn’t in my head or hands I can be still and rest. I know that this situation is covered; it does not take the Lord by surprise. And therefore I only need to still my heart and my head and trust Him. He will come through. He will deliver me even if I can’t image the end result, He will deliver us. 

As I type this I think of how our life for the past year has in so many ways resembled a country song. My family left, our friends left, our dog was sick, one of my kids is sad, one of my other kids is scared of everything that moves. And as always in every country the hurdles in ministry are here. The enemy has swayed some we thought were believers to turn from God and trust a liar the liar… The enemy has tempted to weaken struggling believers and they have slipped. But I know that there is a story being weaved. And sometimes the more details the harder it will be for us to forget it. And the more obvious it will be who did the delivering and who did NOT.

The only way I know how to tell my friends to hang on when it feels the wind is blowing too strong is to find a passage of scripture a promise and cling to it. Remember that God has given us so many stories with example after example of what He is capable of and this does include our lives. 

New International Version (NIV)

14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

My prayer is that even when I feel panicked and over whelmed. It might not seem to be logical but stop and listen, will be where my greatest strength will come from.

Thank you for your prayers, and for sharing our journey with us.