Just stay calm

 

This portion of scripture has such wonderful lessons for us today. We can relate so much to the Israelites in their time of trial, because they 'panic' and they long to go back to their former lives. This is usually our gut reaction too - we want to head back to the things we remember - even if those things were bad and poisonous for us. 

As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, ¹¹ and they said to Moses, “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? ¹² 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!’”
¹³ But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. ¹⁴ The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” - Exodus 14:10-14

In his strongest voice Moses tells the people to 'STAY CALM', not to be afraid and to see how God works in the midst of the difficult situation. Perhaps this is a message for some of us today. 
Let us watch and see how God will fight for us.


Living in Grace
D3LM3

Is God a Sphinx?

The Sphinx is a mythical figure appearing in both Greek and Egyptian traditions, although the Egyptian Sphinx is considerably kinder than his Greek counterpart. One of the roles of the Sphinx is to act as a guardian over tombs or holy places. We often see the famous photo's of the Great Sphinx of Giza protecting the Pyramids in the background.

Sometimes we are tempted to think that God is a Sphinx and that all he does is stand lifelessly guarding our world. He is there, but has no power to intervene or to actually do something. Although how God chooses to work, is a mystery to me, I do believe that He is alive.

"Christians believe in a God who speaks. Ours is not a silent God who sits, sphinx-like, looking out unblinking on a world in agony ... He speaks because he loves us. Love always seeks to communicate." - Donald Coggan

Exodus 33:11 - "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend."

How do you feel?

Pray to the Lord, believing that he is not just ignoring your prayers, but is actively listening to every word that you are speaking.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

You are right!

How often have you cared to admit that someone else may be right and we may be wrong? It is not an easy thing to admit that we are wrong, but we can't always be right. In fact, it borders on pride, if we are never humble enough to admit we may have got something wrong.

In his short reflection on 'Trusting God', Thomas a Kempis, writes:

"Lord, You are right. You care about me more than I care about myself."

There are times that we fall into a trap of believing that God doesn't care about us or that God doesn't know better, but that is incorrect. God does love us and God wants to lead us into paths that are best for us. We just need to learn to say, "Lord, I trust you and you are right!"

Read: Matthew 6 as a reminder that God takes care of us.

Living in Grace
D3LM3