Standing Firm Together (Exodus 13 - 15)
It's amazing when you go to church, listen to a message, and walk away feeling like the message was sent from God just for you. That's how I felt this past weekend as Bill taught from Exodus 14 on the Israelites being backed up against the wall between the Red Sea and the charging Egyptian army.
I'm just in one of those seasons where discouragement seems to come more quickly than usual. Can you relate to the feeling of being easily discouraged? As Bill taught us, amidst that discouragement, it is easy to get sarcastic and expect the worst to happen. And you begin to grumble, complain, and play the "woe is me" card.
I love how Moses steps in with courage and strength and speaks to the Israelites in their pitied state (Exodus 14:13-14):
"Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today... The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still."
Bill broke this down into 3 encouragements: fearing not, standing firm, and expecting God to work. Related to fearing not, I especially was impacted by his challenge to take captive your thoughts and filter them with the truth. Even when I do journal, I often don't evaluate what I'm feeling with what is true. Yes, I want to grow in reflecting on where I'm at, but also bringing the truth of God's Word and the truth about God's character into all of that.
So this week, I'm going to continue to soak in these words from the Scriptures in Exodus 14:13-14. I know I need them. And even now, I continue to feel God's tug on my heart to just be still and stand firm, knowing that He will fight for me and bring His deliverance.
So together, let's fear not, stand firm, and expect God to show up in power and might for the Lord is and will forever be our strength and salvation (Exodus 15:2)...
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2 comments:
I completely identified with the message as well. I took away the same radical idea of capturing my unproductive, fearful, thoughts and putting them aside to give room for the creativity and His power.
I liked the suggestion that Bill made about journaling and crossing off unproductive thoughts....
Do others practice this?
I'd be interested to hear if others practiced other spiritual disciplines that helped with taking thoughts captive....
Hey Joe, thanks for your thoughts and comments.
Not to sound cliche, but I think the Scriptures are huge in this process of taking captive our thoughts with truth. From the Old Testament stories of God's faithfulness and love to His people to the New Testament unpacking what life with Christ looks like, I know I need more and more of the Word of God to wash over my mind with the truth about God and myself.
And I think we need to be creative in how we engage the Bible in our lives; otherwise, it gets routine. Does anybody have creative ideas on how they get more of the Word of God in their lives?
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