You Never Know how STRONG You are, until being STRONG is the Only Choice you Have.
“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today.” – Exodus 4:13
This verse contains God’s command to believers for those times when we are confronted with dire circumstance and extraordinary difficulties. What must Christians do when we cannot retreat or go forward and relief seems blocked on every front?
God’s word says: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm.” So the best thing we can do at this time is to listen only to the Holy Spirit, for others will come with their suggestions and ungodly advice, but the Lord says: “Be still, and know that I am God” – Psalm 46:10.
“Do not be afraid” is one of the great messages recurring all through the Scriptures and Isaiah 26:3 sum it up perfectly, why we should not be afraid – “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.”
The enemy [Satan] however, will come and will whisper soothing relief in the form of... “Give up”. But even in the worst of times, God will enable by His Spirit to be joyful and courageous, rejoicing in His love and faithfulness even though we face dire circumstances.
Fear will tempt us to act the way the world does and try to convince us that it is too difficult for us to continue living the life of a Christian. In a moment of weakness we might think that being a Christian is too hard, yet no matter how much Satan may pressure us to follow the easy way out; we cannot, because as believers we are God’s children and Jesus paid with His life for our salvation.
Impatience and anxiety will come, crying. “Get up and do something!” But the very thing we should be doing during this time is having our eyes fixed on the Lord, because He will not only do something, He will do everything we need. As Moses said to his people, “you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today.”
God has us right where He wanted us to be. The sons of Israel were in the perfect will of God and yet their faith was being tested. We might be in a situation where we are surrounded, and the enemy is coming at us from all directions. The enemy is mocking and telling us how foolish it is to trust God; and tells us that it will do us no good to have faith. However, God had a purpose in bringing the children of Israel to the Red Sea and He has a purpose for the challenges we might be facing in our lives. When we face difficulties in life, God wants to accomplish two things...
He wants to make known His glory to others and He wants to teach us to trust Him completely. Rely on Him, Trust Him and nothing or no one else!
Exodus 14:4 states... “But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”
We must rely on God’s promises. He said, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you only need to be still.” God promised them that He would take care of them and that He was going to fight their battles for them. All they had to do was stand firm, face up to the challenge courageously and be still, which simply means they had to focus on God and on His promises. The same goes for Christians today.
God has a plan; it may be something different than we could ever imagine, but He has a plan. He will get us to the other side of our Red Sea if we trust Him and persevere... stand STRONG. He has not left us and we are never on our own, even though there are times when we feel very alone. We do not have to fight this battle, we just need to stand still, firmly grounded in our faith and know that God “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” – Ephesians 3:20
Know this... the enemy will not give up easily. Pride will come, boasting, “If someone is blocking your way, take care of the situation yourself.” Yet true faith never listens to arrogance, impatience, fear, or despair but only hears God saying. “Stand firm,” and then faith stands as immovable as a rock.
We must maintain the posture of one who stands firm, ready for action, expecting further orders, and cheerfully and patiently awaiting the Master’s voice. It will not be long until God will say to us, as distinctly as He told Moses to tell the children of Israel... “Move on” – Exodus 14:15
In times of uncertainty, wait; if you have any doubt, wait; never forcing yourself into “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” God Himself will guide to this place of renewal, refreshment and STRENTH. – Romans 15:13
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