ON THIS NIGHT…Stand Still

Exodus 14:13,14

“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.  The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

As the day’s past, Maria and her family traveled with over a million other Israelites escaping the slavery in Egypt. This was not an easy journey as they felt exhaustion with each passing day.   There was arguing amongst the nations of Israel, but God had put their leader, a man named Moses, in front to guide them through this journey. Every day was filled with dust from the desert floor and turmoil in their hearts. Day after day, moment after moment the Israelites questioned their pursuit of freedom.

Several days after leaving Egypt, Moses led the people to camp by the sea.

Maria’s body was exhausted from the constant movement of the wagon as the wooden wheels rolled over every bump on the dirt path, so she was grateful to rest by the sea. She had made some new friends as they traveled so, Mother would allow Maria to walk along side the wagon with her friends enjoying the occasional girly giggles.  This was music to Mother’s ears.

As they moved further from Egypt, Maria and her family were able to relax even more in their freedom.  With each passing day, their fear of the Egyptian army’s pursuit diminished. As those fears diminished and freedom was embraced, Maria’s heart became full.

When they came to a stop by the sea, Maria and her brothers jumped out of the wagon to begin to unload their supplies.  They each had been assigned a particular job and Maria’s job was to unload all the blankets needed to make their pallets for sleeping on the desert floor.  She loved this job because with each layer of blanket it felt more like a home.

Once camp was set up, the family gathered to tell stories of the events of the day’s past. Her brothers were older so they would often tell about a beautiful Israelite girl they had seen in one of the other camps.  Mother would tell stories of the children when they were younger, and father would smile in his quietness, but everyone knew that his heart was full of joy for the safety of his family.

The sun was beginning to set in the distant horizon of the desert. Tonight, they enjoyed the beauty of the sea as the setting sun glistened on the water.  Maria sat quietly as the peace in her heart grew large inside her young soul.  Mother watched as she could see Maria blossoming into a beautiful young woman learning the ways of Yahweh. As mother looked at her sons, her heart was full of joy listening to them talk about the God of their ancestors and how mighty He was. ON THIS NIGHT, all was good in their world.

As the sun began to fall asleep, mother instructed the children it was time to rest on their pallets.  As they were moving to their special places, they heard a noise in the distance.  The rumbling was quickly dismissed assuming that one of the other camps was enjoying a celebration by the sea.  But soon the rumbling grew louder. The rumbling then became a roar…a roar that sounded more like fear than a celebration.  Maria’s family rose from their pallets to investigate the disruption.  When father stood, he could see far in the distance what looked like an army approaching.  He quickly gathered his family as shouts were coming from the people that it was Pharaoh’s army. Father knew immediately that he had to find a place of safety for the ones he loved the most in this world.  He shouted to his sons to grab whatever weapon they could find from the wagon while he picked up Maria and handed her to her mother. He looked Maria’s mother in the eyes and said for her to take Maria and run as quickly as they could to find safety.  He kissed Maria’s forehead trying to assure her that he would see her soon.

As Maria and her mother ran for safety, Maria turned to look at her father and her brothers afraid that this would be the last time she would see them. She tried to hold back her tears to be strong for her mother, but the tears flowed quietly down her face. Mother grabbed her hand as they ran to find cover. As they ran, Maria could hear the panicked screams of the Israelites. In their panic, Maria could hear the people’s words towards Moses that they would have rather stayed in Egypt in slavery than to die in the desert.  Maria didn’t understand that because she remembered how horrible those days were in Egypt.  In her heart, Maria knew that the God they worshipped, Yahweh, would save them from this death.

Then it happened. When Maria looked around her, she saw the Israelites stop running. They were standing still.   Mother herself stood still with Maria by her side. What was happening? Maria knew that God was going to provide protection so surely, He did not want them standing in the open so Pharaohs army could easily find them.  

As Maria and her mother stood still in the sand, she could hear the voice of Moses in the faint distance…

                “Don’t be afraid!

                                ON THIS NIGHT, just stand still!

                                                Watch the Lord rescue you.

                                                                The Lord himself will fight for you.

                                                                                Just stay calm!”

As Maria stood there, she imagined bending down and drawing a circle in the sand around her feet to remind her to stand still. She imagined as she stood still in her circle that the army of God would defeat the army of Pharaoh as she stood protected within her circle. She didn’t know exactly how that was going to happen, but her faith told her that it would.  As she stood firmly within her circle, she looked out over the crowd as they stood still.  She imagined circles drawn around their feet.  Then she looked at her mother’s circle and her heart leaped with joy knowing that as the two of their circles were drawn side by side that there would be nothing, not even Pharaohs army, that would defeat them. Not very far away, she could see her father and her brothers as they had laid their weapons down while standing still within their circle. Maria knew that she was about to see a miracle of God. As a silence fell on the Israelite people, their attention was drawn to their leader, Moses.  In the far distance she could see the silhouette of a man with his arm stretched out over the sea. In her heart, she knew that this was the beginning of this miracle!

So often our battles in life look like the battle about to ensue in the lives of the Israelites.  We can see the army of destruction coming in the distance.  Our first instinct is to run for cover.  We want to run to grab our weapon or crawl into our hole of safety because this is all that we know to do.  But what if we were to stop and draw a circle around our feet?

As God saw the Israelites running in panic, he asked them to do the impossible.

“Stop running. Stand still! As you stand, I want you to bend down, pick up a stick and draw a circle around your feet. Stand still within that circle until I tell you it’s time to move.

When you run in fear from your enemies, …

 your focus becomes your panic,

your focus becomes your safety,

your focus becomes your enemy.

 But if you stand within the circle you have drawn, your focus becomes Me.

 I have a weapon drawn that you cannot see.  You feel as though you are surrounded by your enemy, but truly you are surrounded by Me. As I draw my weapon, I will destroy THE enemy at the exact moment designed for his destruction.

You think your battle is against the army who is in pursuit of your life, but your battle is against a force much bigger than the enemy you see with your human eyes. Your battle is against an evil one that you cannot see; an evil one that I choose to protect your eyes from seeing.”

Today, I challenge you to STAND STILL, draw a circle around your feet and watch as God destroys your enemy!