Stillness is a defiant and deliberate act of faith. This is according to my friend, Joshua Finley (and I agree). God used his recent message called, Be Still, to stir some things in me so I could hear the word of the Lord. Let me explain.
From time to time, we all get in a funk. Believing and trusting becomes hard. Hope fades. Light becomes a distant memory. Many times, it has to do with our view of God. The late A.W. Tozer believed a low view of God is the cause of a hundred lesser evils but a high view of God is the solution to ten thousand temporal problems.” Actively hearing and applying the word of the Lord is the way faith comes and one of the ways our view of God grows (seeRomans 10:17).
Recently, I was in a little funk. I was momentarily despairing over a seemingly impossible situation in our life. I was groping for an answer, asking God what I needed to do to get out of this problem, only I felt I had already done everything that was required of me. I had already prayed like it depended on God and worked like it depended on me and still nothing was happening.[1]
As I got down on my knees to pray that night, I asked God for an answer. What do I do in this situation? How do I respond to this? Then a scripture from the message came back to me, Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.
The passage was from Exodus. The children ofIsraelstood at the shores of theRed Sea. With an ocean before them and an army behind them, this is what Moses, inspired by God, said to them,
Exodus 14:13-14NKJV And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. (14) The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
Stand still? How could they? But what other choice did they have? They could kick and scream and go down fighting, which is often what we do; or they could let the Lord, who led them to the Red Sea in the first place, fight for them.
God will intentionally put us between a rock and a hard place and then tell us to stand still.
That way, He can have the glory and our faith can grow in who He is. As my friend stated in his message, “There are some enemies that we have no business fighting, but God enjoys defeating our greatest enemies.”
Once you have prayed and done your part in obedience, stand still and let the Lord fight for you! It probably won’t go down the way you think, but God will show Himself strong for everyone to see, and your view of God will grow exponentially!
How do you usually handle turbulent times in life? Leave a comment…
