Stillness is not necessarily inactivity. It’s a mindset. A state where striving – trying hard to do, reach, or achieve – ceases and directed effort begins. It’s an inner state absent of vigorous pushing, a mindset free from fear. It’s trust that God puts himself between you and that which is trying to harm you. It’s faith in his protection and guidance.
After they left Egypt, Pharoah changed his mind about letting the Israelites go and was now pursuing them. They reacted in fear. The Israelites didn’t have many options, and they were contemplating surrendering to the Egyptians and returning to slavery. Moses, however, knew exactly what they needed to do.
“Do not be afraid… stand firm… the Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Exodus 14:13-14)
Sometimes, though, stillness is so much harder than activity.
While they stood still, feeling trapped, God put himself between them and the pursuing Egyptians. He then used the Red Sea (i.e., nature) to defeat the Egyptians. He gave the Israelites Moses to lead them – a visual of the Lord fighting for them. They needed Moses’ leadership as a conduit of God’s protection many times over in their ensuing wandering years.
God didn’t need to make such a display. He didn’t need to have Moses raise his hands to part the Red Sea. He didn’t need the sea to drown the Egyptians. So why did he do these things? The Israelites needed to see his activity.
They needed to see him fighting for them, and they needed this memory to inspire and motivate them over and over again in their history. This event, in fact, is recounted numerous times in the Bible to remind God’s people throughout time to not be afraid, to be still, to stand firm, and to let the Lord fight for them.
“This is what the Lord says—he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.’” (Isaiah 43:16-19)
We need it, too. We need to remember the Israelite’s journey through the Red Sea and beyond to know that God has always fought for and protected his people. You also need to remember Your Red Sea Moment to know he’ll do the same for you. He promises to move you beyond it, to do something new in what seems impossible circumstances.
