Be Still...

Hi everybody! I hope I find you well as we are heading into my favorite season: Autumn! I have had a crazy time since arriving in New York! The day after I arrived, my sister went into labor, a little earlier than I was expecting. The next day, on September 2nd, my niece Selah Amayah Hemphill was born! I love her so much, she is so precious, and I know God is going to do amazing things in and through her! Since then, my birthday came and went (yay 26!), my mom arrived, and we've all been learning a little bit more about newborns. I decided to take some time today to write, and let you all know how things are going, and share some thoughts.

Since arriving in New York I have had some doors potentially open, some expected, some unexpected, so please be keeping those potential support raising opportunities in prayer! I feel that the Lord has many supporters here in New York that He wants to connect me with, so I'm just praying that His will be done, and whoever He wants to partner with me will be pointed out to me by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you all for supporting me, praying for me, and encouraging me as I continue on this journey. I am so excited to see what God does!

Speaking of all this, I wanted to share a little about what the Lord has been teaching me. I've had a pretty hectic few weeks, and as we all know, it's so easy to get distracted, and spend less and less time with the Lord than we should. My sister called me out on that in fact, earlier this week. It made me realize how easily I was letting other things get in my way, whether it was sleep, tv, music, etc. I was letting myself be distracted from spending more time than I should with my Savior. Since that conversation I began being intentional in my time with Him, and trying to listen more, and overall spend more time with Him. There is one thing that continuously comes up for me. It's been a verse that I've been hearing from Him for a while now, but recently I dug into it a little bit more, and I think I understand more now why He keeps bringing it to my attention.

"'The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.'"

Exodus 14:14 NIV 

Such a short, simple verse. But it's so powerful. Now, when I first read this verse it moved me. I felt like a weight had been lifted. The Lord is not asking anything extravagant. He doesn't say "Dance in a circle three times, while hopping on your left foot, then howl at the sixth full moon of the year, and then I will fight for you." No, we are reminded, we need only be still. Now, to me, without actually unpacking this verse, it meant to me that I just needed to stop worrying. Stop worrying about how God was going to get me to Belfast, I needed to just come before Him, and be still. I needed to listen to His voice, and His guidance. Now, I think this is perfectly acceptable to view this way, but being the good bible school graduate that I am, I had to dig deeper into this verse. Granted, it took me a few months of using it over and over as a reminder to do so, but once I dug into this verse, it meant so much more to me.



To start, let's look at the context: what was said before this verse, what is going on when it is said?

"As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, 'Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?  Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, "Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians"? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!'
Moses answered the people, '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 need only to be still.'” 

 Exodus 14:10-14 NIV

Okay, so basically, in lay man's terms, the people of Israel, God's chosen people, are freaking out. They are panicking, because God delivered them from the Egyptians, brought them to the Red Sea, Pharaoh changed his mind, and is coming after them. So they have a few options her: they could fight, with virtually no weapons at their disposal, and die, they could go willingly, and sure, Pharaoh will probably kill some of them, but things weren't so bad in Egypt, or, they could trust God. So of course, being such forgetful people, hello, God just performed at least eleven miracles in Egypt, they turn to Moses, and start pointing fingers. "Well if this guy would've just left us alone in Egypt, this would not be happening right now... Now we're all going to die. Thanks so much Moses, you're a real pal." is pretty much how that conversation went. Moses, unlike me, cause let's be honest, I would've thrown down my staff, said "Really?" and just walked away from that hot mess, turns to them and says "Guys, chill, God's got our backs. Like remember Passover, which was literally, twenty-five days ago? Just stop freaking out." Then, as we all know, God came through in one of the biggest ways: he split the Red Sea open, let the Israelites pass, then let it come crashing down on the Egyptians.

Okay, so we see the context of this verse. Wow does this apply to me. I mean, I look at all the other times in my life that God has provided, and it makes me wonder, how do I forget that? How do I forget how great my God is? How many mission trips have I gone on, or my internship in France, and God provided what I needed. Every.Single.Time. So why am I over here stressing myself out about God providing for me to go to Belfast? This verse is me... very much so. But I want to share one more thing about this verse. A selection from a commentary I read yesterday, and this really helped me understand more fully the depth of this passage. Also, side note here, I highly recommend using commentaries. I learned about them in school, or rather how amazing they are, and if the Lord continues to bring you to a verse, and you are not so sure why, check a commentary, it really helps to unpack the verse for you, and understand more about it.

4. (Exo 14:13-14) Moses responds with great courage.
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. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."

a. Do not be afraid: At this point, Moses could have no idea how God would come through in the situation. All he knew was God certainly would come through. In a sense, Moses knew he was in such a bad situation that God had to come through.

i. When we see that our only help is God, we are more likely to trust Him. Sometimes it is the little things - the things we think we can do in our own strength - that get us down, not the big things that we know only God can do.

b. Stand still: Moses told the people of Israel to stop. This is often the LORD's direction to the believer in a time of crisis. Despair will cast you down, keeping you from standing. Fear will tell you to retreat. Impatience will tell you to do something now. Presumption will tell you to jump into the Red Sea before it is parted. But as God told Israel He often tells us to simply stand still as He reveals His plan.

c. See the salvation of the LORD: Moses didn't know what God would do. Yet he knew what the result would be. He knew that God would save His people and that the enemies of the Lord would be destroyed. He could say to Israel, "the LORD will fight for you."

d. You shall see them no more forever: The idea behind this implies much more than at first look. Moses perhaps spoke in terms of eternity as well as their present time. 

(https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/studyguide_exd/exd_14.cfm)

Okay, I LOVE this. My favorite part is the part about Moses telling the Israelites to not be afraid. Oh.MyGoodness. YES! Moses knew they were backed into a corner, but he also knew the God he served. He knew, that God would come through, because He had not brought them this far to abandon them. This applies to us today. When we are backed into a corner, whatever it might be, God will come through. Sure, it might not be the way we expect, and it might hurt a little, but God always comes through for His people. I'm sure Moses did not expect God to tell him to hold out his staff, and the sea would part. Moses probably expected something more like a giant fireball raining down from the sky and annihilating Pharaoh and his army, or an army of angels taking them out. But God showed up, and He delivered His people.

  Then there's standing still. it's not just about being still before God, it's also about letting go of our fleshly reactions, like despair, fear, impatience (a big one for me), presumption. But His plan will be revealed to us in His time. It's not about what we want, it's about His plan for us. We have to take all these reactions and lay them before the feet of God, at the cross. We have to ask His Spirit to give us peace, that we would not let our own flesh, the temptation of the enemy, or the world we live in gain control over us. We have to give God absolute control, and put our trust in Him.

So here it is, what God has been teaching me, and what I want to share with you. We are like the Israelites, more often than not. We hate to admit it, since their track record isn't the greatest, but here is the good news: God's track record is perfect. He will never fail or forsake us. Now please remember, God coming through may not look the way we expect it to, and sometimes He is steering us away from something to something better, but He is the one who created you. He has a plan, and sometimes, the only way to hear it is to be still.

Blessings and Love,

Chrissy