{"id":770,"date":"2021-06-07T08:32:27","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T12:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=770"},"modified":"2021-06-07T08:32:27","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T12:32:27","slug":"just-be-still","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/07\/just-be-still\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Be Still"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
(c) Paramount Pictures 1956<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

No one remembers the first person who said it, but it really is a great line:

God may have gotten his people out of Egypt, but his next job was far tougher: getting Egypt out of his people.<\/em>

According to the book of Exodus, there was nothing simple or easy about the task that God entrusted to Moses.  This fearful fugitive, who had spent the previous 40 years tending sheep in the Sinai wilderness, had to boldly approach Pharaoh: \u201cThe Lord says, \u2018Let my people go!\u201d

But Pharaoh was not going to yield to some upstart Hebrew representing a god no one had ever heard of. \u201cGet back to work,\u201d he commanded the slaves. \u201cFrom now on, you will make the same number of bricks, but without straw.\u201d

This was a tragedy for the Israelites.  Instead of one step forward, they had now taken three steps back. \u201cWhen they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, and they said, \u2018May the Lord look upon you and judge you!\u2019\u201d (Exodus 5:20)  The Hebrew text says literally, \u201cYou have made us stink<\/em> to Pharaoh.\u201d

Thanks for nothing, Moses<\/em>.

Rejected by the very people he is trying to help, Moses groans to God: \u201cI did everything you wanted, and things are getting worse.\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t worry, Moses,\u201d God says, \u201cI am in charge here.\u201d In Exodus 6:9, Moses takes that word back to his people: \u201cMoses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.\u201d

In Hebrew, the word discouragement<\/em> is literally, \u201cshortness of breath.\u201d They are gasping for breath, like little children who have been crying.  Try explaining to disappointed children at 5:30 p.m. that people do not live by Chicken McNuggets alone.  Go ahead and talk about the joys of delayed gratification, and what a valuable opportunity this is for character-building, and how learning patience will definitely pay off by the time they turn 30.

Children with \u201cshortness of breath\u201d usually don\u2019t tune in to such a message.  Discouragement crushes the human spirit.

People say: \u201cI thought God was leading me into a whole new season of life. I trusted him\u2026and things immediately got worse. My parents got sick. The estrangement with my child grew deeper. Someone who said he would always love me walked away. What\u2019s going on?\u201d These are the kinds of moments at which some people give up believing that God can be trusted.

Moses was experiencing just such a moment.  God was asking him, in so many words, \u201cDo you believe, Moses, that I can raise the dead?  Do you believe that I can put life back into the deadness of your current situation?\u201d

Even after the drama of their liberation from slavery, the hearts of the ancient Hebrews were still bound. Their hands may have been unshackled, but their minds were held captive by a slave mentality.

That\u2019s on display in the Bible\u2019s famous account of the crossing of the Red Sea.  The Hebrews are free.  For the first time in their lives, they have reason to hope.  Then, while standing at the edge of the waters, they look back and see Egyptian chariots bearing down on them. Their response to Moses is classic: \u201cWas it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?\u201d

Once again: Thanks for nothing, Moses<\/em>.  And you thought cynicism was invented at your family\u2019s Thanksgiving dinner table.

Moses roars his reply in Exodus 14:13: \u201cDo not be afraid.  Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today\u2026 The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still.\u201d

You need only to be still.<\/em>

In this context, stillness is not laziness.  Nor is it passivity.  Stillness means trusting that God is God, and that he is in charge of what\u2019s happening on your calendar today.  Stillness means calmness as you wait to see how he will provide.  It means patience when it appears an important deadline is approaching.  It means gentleness when someone else is angry, and quietness when we first get wind of disturbing news.

Just as in Bible times, God hears, God cares, and God delivers.

As the psalmist says: \u201cBe still and know that I am God.\u201d (Psalm 46:10)

He\u2019s still in the business of setting prisoners free \u2013 and making a way through the deepest waters.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No one remembers the first person who said it, but it really is a great line: God may have gotten his people out of Egypt, but his next job was far tougher: getting Egypt out of his people. According to the book of Exodus, there was nothing simple or easy about the task that God entrusted to Moses.  This fearful… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[212,135],"class_list":["post-770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-be-still-and-know","tag-trusting-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":772,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770\/revisions\/772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}