WOW! talk about powerful scripture! so many interchanges and emotions can be felt in this passage, and it likely should've been split into several. for the sake of continuity and for parallels between these verses, i feel led to jump in the deep end, head first; with my bible as my floaty wings of course. this post may be a few days in the making, so take heart and patience please! i'll let you know once i reach a 'c'est finis' moment.
first note: God's children were scared. not just scared, they were flat out terrified for their lives! they we're thinking, "welp, this is it! here i am; to die in the desert!" confused about why they had to come so far from home in an effort to flea if they were just going to be scrapped anyway, they doubted the Lord in their fear. in the first verses of chapter 14 we learn that the Lord told Moses where to lead the israelites, and in verse 4 we are told that the israelites camped there as they were told to do so. even when the Lord had said something, flat out and directly to His chosen people, they still doubted the Lord. they still had fear. fear pollutes the Bible far too often in the presence of the enemy. how many times did Joshua have to be reminded "do not be afraid, for the Lord is with you" before it finally sank in? and if fear wasn't a problem in post-jesus society, why does Paul warn against it so often in his epistles? in a recent search on youversion.com (my bible of choice; its incred! DL the app for iPhone!), i typed in the keyword "fear" and the search yeileded 465 results! fear is mentioned in the Bible 465 times!!! we could read one verse a day about fear every day for a year and still have ONE HUNDRED left!! let's face it: in our own flesh, there is so much to be fearful of. the enemy uses lies to deceive us. deceit turns to doubt, doubt turns to worry, worry turns to fear, and fear gives room for the enemy to put us in a stronghold that is against the promise and perfect plan of the Lord. the only fear that the Bible condones is a fear in the Lord; which the word in hebrew actually means a reverent obedience.
but the israelites, despite their word from the Lord, lost faith and found themselves in fear. in verse 15, the Lord goes on to rebuke them, saying to Moses, "why are you crying out to me? tell the people to get moving!" talk about a stern word from the Lord. He didn't coddle them when they cried out; as sometimes we find ourselves in painful, fearful situations and we don't feel the Lord's comfort in them. Our Father is a loving, merciful, graceful, and faithful Lord; however, we were never promised He would always be gentle with our requests and never hurt our feelings. He is our Father; He disciplines His children when needed. "my child, don't reject the Lord's discipline, and don't be upset when he corrects you, for the Lord corrects those He loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights." (--Proverbs 3:11-12) Although this situation may not look like a swift, stern hand on the hiney, God certainly didn't pay their cries anymore mind than essentially saying, 'get over yourself and get moving!' God already gave them the word; and we are told that they had already begun to DO AS THEY WERE TOLD.
in our flesh, we are so quick to forget the word the Lord has given us regarding our paths-- no, no. HIS paths for our lives. we get distracted; typically by fear and worry. we began to see how our circumstances don't often reflect the vision we had. we encounter hurdles and we are the first to forget what the Lord has already done. We forget that the Lord is faithful; and that more often than not, what we thought His road would look like is so far from reality that we question His faithfulness solely because we don't see what He has. we don't have His eyes. we see opposition and we forget His promise to get us through it.
i just wish we would see how dangerous this is!!!!! the enemy is all over that! he knows that he doesn't even have to hurt us (don't think that means that he won't or doesn't care to!); he just has to scare us. the enemy just has to get us to take our eyes off the Lord for one second, to doubt Him in His faithfulness, to become distracted from His promise, and BAM! we are left flailing and doubting that He ever gave us the Word in the first place!
"He will cover you with his feathers, He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection." (--Psalm 91:4 ) we need to rest assure in the Lord's promise; as it is faithful and it is what guards us from the enemy. the second we take off that armor, we are subject to attack from the enemy. he knows we are susceptible to lies and doubt and fear when we begin to forget what the Lord has promised us.
in our personal lives, that can be across the board anywhere. it can come in the form of persuasion, for or against, by anyone other than the Lord, including ourselves. i know i put myself out there in a huge way in admitting that allowing ourselves or others to persuade us one way or another is like a secret entry for the enemy; but why not? in that, we reveal what is most important to us, and if it is anything other than the Lord, the enemy will distract us and discourage us with it.
although volume-wise, that covers the majority of quantity of the verse, small packages often pack the biggest punch! in the next verse, we see that moses stood firm in the Lord's promise, reminding his people to not be afraid and to be still and allow the Lord to fight for them. what fresh revelation!! first off, moses stood firm in the Lord promise!!!! finally, someone gets it right (don't worry, we'll be back to getting it all messed up on our own before too long)! most importantly, we are reminded, again "don't be afraid!" and why not?! as Romans 8:31 reminds us, "For if God is for us, who can be against us?"
seriously. i can't get over the Lord's faithfulness in this! I am giddy in God's goodness! i hope you'll allow me to take a moment to just soak in the provision of HIM!! :) (Christina, this is for YOU to soak in, too! as i know you're like, the only one reading this!)
"just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today" v. 13
how hard of a concept is that: to "just" stand still?! i can't count the innumerable times the Lord has either asked me, or forced me, to sit still and to wait upon Him. i feel as if currently, i am right in the midst of a time in which i thought i was done waiting; i thought Haiti was the answer to the wait. now, i'm feeling as if the Lord is saying THIS is the preparation for the real work. THIS is the time i am to be still. he forced me through it priorly, but now, he's asking me to wait. waiting is hard. we don't like to wait. i've blogged on this before: our culture is more, and NOW. we are all about immediate gratification, and waiting is anything but our strong point. BUT, even in recent days that i've heard the Lord say wait, i've been able to be obedient to that, and His faithfulness is so overwhelming to me! i know there is so much that He is asking me to wait on, and let me tell you: t-o-u-g-h! BUT so worth it!!
so, in your stillness, i challenge you to let the Lord rescue you today! in whatever situation, in whatever circumstance. even in light of goodness and righteousness, allow Him to completely rapture your heart! as women, we desire to be rescued, captivated, and fought for. i think this verse speaks so deeply to us especially. we have been blessed with a supernatural ability to be patient: as moms, teachers, wives, single women. but as we seek that in man, we need to first seek and be satisfied in that in the Lord. His word here tells us that He WILL rescue us. that He WILL fight, for US! FOR us! In leaving worship tonight (this has been a multi-moment entry over the past few days), i am reminded how the Lord rescues us from our sin, from our past, from our flesh. and He fights for us, in the spiritual realm, when we declare His blood and its reign over our lives. we must be so content in the Lord, so confident in His rescue.
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after meeting with the Lord tonight, unified together, haitian and blanc, i see that this is what the Lord has for me. this type of culture, unified in faith and purpose. not only right now, but permanently. i'm ruined for the ordinary. there is no return for normalcy. God is working in magnificent ways, and all He has said is wait, and do not be afraid. so, i am fearless and i am still. and the Lord is far far far too good for my own comprehension.
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