Be Still - Monday Morning Devotion
Be still.
Exodus 14:13
Moses was leading the Israelites our of Egypt, with Pharaoh hot on their tail. Understandably, the Israelites began to panic - maybe they should go back. Sure, they had been slaves in Egypt, but they had enough food and a warm bed at night. This guy Moses had convinced them they would be better off somewhere else, and now they were traipsing off into the desert. Many thinking they had made a giant mistake.
As the panic spread and grew, Moses spoke these words, "Do not be afraid. The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still."
Put yourself in the Israelites' shoes. Their instinct must have been telling then, "Run! Save yourself!" But instead, they obeyed. They remained still and waited for God to save them. And because of that, they were witness to one of God's outrageously big miracles: the parting of the Red Sea.
In our society, most people live by the motto: Work Hard. If you work hard, you'll get where you're going. People take pride in pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.
So, this section of Exodus may strike some as shocking. Sometimes the work that needs to be done in our lives can ONLY be done by God. Sometimes instead of working harder, we need to stop and let God take over.
Sometimes, we need to just be still, let Him do his thing, and watch in awe what unfolds in front of us.
If we are too busy trying to take care of things ourselves, we might miss a great, big miracle.