Stand Still and See the Salvation of the Lord...

“[Do Not Love the World] Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” 1 John 2:15

To My Daughters, 

I am reading through the bible chronologically with a friend.  I am in Exodus...she is already in Leviticus.   As I read through Exodus and about the wilderness wanderings of Israel, God's chosen people, I am encouraged.  They are so much like us.  God had prepared a wilderness experience for His people to teach them about his character and His nature and He has prepared one for us also.  Egypt is a picture of sin...it is a picture of the world.  God took His people and He takes us, upon belief in His Son, out of the world.  He then uses all the tribulations and trials that we face in this life as a means to take the world out of us and in exchange, He gives us Himself.   As he does this, through the power of His Spirit using the word of God, we are transformed into His image...our character, nature, walk and life begin resemble that of our Father in Heaven. We learn to love Him more and begin to hold lightly to the things of this world.  This is not usually a pain free experience. As humans with a sinful nature, none of us really let go of our pride and our illusion of control very easily.

If we do not understand this, we will be thrown off balance when the sea billows roll.  We will forget that, if it is well with our soul, there is nothing else that can really be wrong.  We will forget that our hope is sure and steadfast and that we have an anchor, Jesus, for the storms of this life.  We, as the hymn says are fastened to the Rock which does not move and is grounded firm and deep in the Savior's love.

Unfortunately, what should have taken the Israelites a few weeks took forty years.  God's people failed to enter the Land of Promise because of disobedience and unbelief.  They wandered until the entire generation of those who were 20 years of age and older when they left Egypt had passed away.   Even after all the miracles they had witnessed they refused to surrender and trust God to fight the giants that were in the land.   SIGH!  We do the same things.  

There is so much to learn from the wanderings of the people of God!  Here is what I took away for myself through this particular reading.  

I am here as a testimony to His grace, mercy and love...I am to live for Him and point others to His Son. My life is not about me or anything that I might go through.  It is about Him. I am to live my life in a way that brings glory to Him. 

God is MY shelter, MY very present help in time of trouble and MY guide through it all.    Just as God was with the Israelites in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, His presence goes with ME, also.  The Book of Acts says that it is in Him that I live and move and have MY being.  The cloud of his presence provides shade from the sun and the heat and the fire warmth from the cold winds of life.

Three verses came to mind as I read...

For this is God, Our God forever and ever;  He will be our guide Even to death.--Psalm 48:14

They shall neither hunger nor thirst,  Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;  For He who has mercy on them will lead them,  Even by the springs of water He will guide them. I will make each of My mountains a road, And My highways shall be elevated.--Isaiah 49:10-11

For You have been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his distress,  A refuge from the storm,  A shade from the heat; For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. You will reduce the noise of aliens, As heat in a dry place;  As heat in the shadow of a cloud,  The song of the terrible ones will be diminished.--Isaiah 25:4-5

Praise God!!!  The song of the terrible ones will be diminished and He will be our Guide even unto death.  We are not meant to go through this journey by ourselves.  Believe and His presence will go before you and be with you...He will be your Guide even unto death.  There will be times that you will feel exactly as the Israelites did at the Red Sea...trapped with nowhere to go...in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.  You will want to murmur and complain against Him....but here is the thing...through it all you will begin to learn to walk by faith and not by sight.  You will begin to trust and depend on God and not  yourself.  Understanding our need for God does not come in good times...it is wrought in the darkness of despair.  Salvation, as E. M. Bounds says, issues forth from these forces:  

1. The strength of weakness

2.  The power of self-despair

3.  The energy of perseverance

4.  the elevation of humility

5.  and the victory of surrender.  

How beautiful to my heart these words are!!!!  My very name, my character and my destiny were changed by the strength of weakness and the power of self despair.  Looking back it is the elevation of humility that took me to heights I could not imagine. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!!!!!!

You will not see His plan because in the midst of the trial you will not have the perspective you need to see the end from the beginning. (Only God has that)  You will only see the mountains surrounding you and the "Egyptians" behind.  Take courage...the Lord fights for you.  Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.  

I will end with the words of both the Israelites and Moses from Exodus 14.  These are some of my favorite verses in the entire Bible. 

And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have beenbetter for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.” 

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.” --Exodus 14:10-14

Love

Mom