Just Stay Calm

The Israelites were a whiney bunch, weren’t they? God rescued them over and over again, and they whined at the slightest hiccup.

Not like I can identify with that or anything!

I came across this Bible verse, and it really resonated with me.

Quick set up: Pharaoh has just released the Israelites when he changes his mind and decides to go after them. The Israelites are at the edge of the river with no place to go. They can see Pharaoh and his army barreling down on them. So, naturally, they do what most people would do. They lose it. There’s no place to go to escape Pharaoh and his army.

The Israelites begin to berate Moses in pure panic:

“‘Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’” Exodus 14:11-12

But Moses, being the ever patient leader, says to them:

” …’Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.'” Exodus 14:13-14

I love that part: “just stay calm.” I admit that many times I lose it when I get to the proverbial “water’s edge.” God’s rescued me so many times, yet I still lose it when I can’t see what God sees. If I was in the same place as the Israelites, I’d probably see a river too. I’d whine. I’d play the blame game. I wouldn’t have envisioned God parting the river so I could walk through it… because, you know, that’s never been done before. Yet that’s what He does every single time I get to the water’s edge; God miraculously parts the waters in a unique and unexpected way each time.

My takeaway after reading those verses was something that I needed to be reminded of frequently: just stay calm. God’s taking care of it. He’s fighting for me. I just need to take a chill pill and let God do the thing that He does. It’s such a simple lesson that I need to be reminded of over and over again.

I don’t know where you are today or what you’re facing, but don’t lose it. Remember that God’s fighting for you.

Just stay calm, stand still, and watch the Lord rescue you today.

Get ready to watch God do something amazing…like part a sea before your very eyes.