Day 7: Be still
“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 to be still” (Exodus 14:14).
Our great and glorious God and heavenly Father, some of the most comforting words of Scripture reassure us of Your powerful, shielding presence in the lives of Your people. Not only do You promise Your presence: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5; Deuteronomy 31:6), but You also promise Your active intervention on behalf of those You call Your own.
From the outset, when You delivered Your people out of bondage and into all You had promised, You revealed Yourself as the Strong Deliverer [who] shields...in the day of battle (Psalm 140:7). And throughout their history, they understood that the battle is the Lord's (1 Samuel 17:47). They knew You, by experience, as the Mighty Warrior.
The prophet Jeremiah declared, The Lord is with me like a Mighty Warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail (Jeremiah 20:11). And the prophet Zephaniah offered words of encouragement in a time of great distress: The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves..." (Zephaniah 3:17).
To Your people today, Father, You have given the same reassurances as the warfare rages on in the spiritual realm (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Ephesians 6:12). You are still the Mighty Warrior who saves. The battle still belongs to You. And often, still, You give us Your command to stand firm and see [Your] deliverance.
Lord, we confess that our minds are constantly striving, and stillness is difficult for us. Help us to hear Your voice over the din and the clamor—the waves of worry that flood our mind, and drown us in defeat. Transform us by Your power. Renew our minds. Help us to take every thought captive to Christ—our Deliverer, Lord of hosts, Lord Sabaoth, our Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 47:4).
God, we need You so desperately! So much is at stake. Our families, our congregations, our neighborhoods, our communities, our world—our existence, our eternity. The battle is Yours. You will fight for us. We need only be still. Help us to hold fast to the instruction of our Commander with His life-saving, soul-delivering words of victory:
Do not be afraid. Stand firm. Be Still.
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