22
Dec '20
Hold Your Peace
22
Dec '20
The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. (Exodus 14:14)
What are the things that are competing for your attention today? What is weighing heavily on your heart? Is it a person? Or maybe, it’s your job or lack thereof. Perhaps you have a child who isn’t following the Lord. Each day has struggles of its own. Trials and difficulties vie for our time. But the Lord wants us to trust Him and give Him our cares and concerns. He desires that we come to Him, trusting Him to work on our behalf.
Exodus tells us to be silent and trust the Lord to fight for us. Isn’t that difficult, though? It is not natural to be quiet and trust God. Our flesh wants to complain or fret about our struggles. But, God wants us to rest in Him. He can make a way when we see no way out of our situation. Just think about how many times God has rescued His people from trouble. He parted the Red Sea when there was no escape for the Israelites. He delivered Daniel out of the lion’s den. Over and over again, we see Him work miracles on behalf of those who love Him.
Help me to focus on your incredible faithfulness Jesus. Give me the peace I need to wait on you in quietness and trust. Amen.
When I read this devotion it blessed me. The Lord will fight for you, you just need to hold your peace. That’s not an easy ask but I assure you, you will find rest in God’s goodness and presence. He neither slumbers nor sleeps. Leave whatever “it” is to God. Do your best and God will do the rest.
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
18
Sep '19
He Will Fight for You
18
Sep '19
The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. (Exodus 14:14)
I was 19 at the time. I’d been following Jesus for a few months, and I remember starting to get angry. At God.
I gave my life to You … why is it still falling apart?
I thought You were supposed to make my life easier.
Why does some part of me still want to do the things I don’t want to do anymore?
I never would’ve said it publicly, but I held some serious resentment and disillusionment toward God.
Sadly, it wasn’t because of anything He’d done or said. In fact, it was a lot of religious baggage and ideas I had picked up along the way that were the reason for the resentment.
Growing up and going to church here and there, I always thought the people who went on stage during testimony services had it all together. Or at least, they did once they started following Jesus! They’d say things like, “I was an alcoholic for 40 years. Then, I gave my life to Jesus and have never wanted a drink since.”
I’d sink lower in my chair because what about me? In some ways life actually got harder after I started following Jesus. I now felt conflicted. I felt woken up to a battle of sorts. Was there something wrong with me?
I remember being in this season and reading the Exodus story in a fresh new way. I’d heard it tons growing up, but sometimes that’s a good reason to miss the true heart of a passage. Yet, at that time, one verse particularly stuck out.
It was right after the Israelites were freed for the final time and began to leave Egypt and Pharaoh’s rule.
That’s when they got to the Red Sea. And they started to feel the impossible ahead of them. To make matters worse, they turned around and saw Pharaoh chasing them. He had changed his mind about letting them go.
A sea in front of them, and an army behind them. They were trapped. And they began to curse and hurl harsh words at Moses: Did you bring us out here to die?! We could’ve stayed in Egypt to do that! (Exodus 14:11)
That’s when my favorite verse shows up. Moses responds:“The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace” (Exodus 14:14).
I really try to feel Israel’s plight, but I can’t imagine how it felt. The terror. The fear. Completely shut in and stuck. Moses tells Israel they do have to do something. They do have a job. To get through this they need to obey. And the command they need to obey? Be quiet and watch God work. Have true faith in the One who brought them out of slavery.
I don’t know what you’re facing today, but what would it look like to stop and trust in your Creator? He didn’t get you this far to leave you out to dry. God goes before you and after you. He will fight for you.
My favorite part about this story is that after God opens up the Red Sea, Israel is commanded to walk. Sometimes being silent and trusting God looks like putting one foot in front of the other while towers of water are on your left and your right. But He is good, and He can be trusted.
Lord, I pray for the situation today of each person reading this. I pray You would give them the same hope and strength and reminder of Your promises as You did to your people next to the Red Sea. That You would calm their heart and still their soul with Your truth and with Your voice. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
As I was seeking The Lord this morning to find a devotion to post I felt The Lord say, I will fight for you. I pray after reading this devotion you find hope and strength in the midst of your struggles. He will fight for you, as today’s devotions says, no matter the sea in front of you or the army behind you, be quiet and watch God work.
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Philippians 2:3-4