“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:13-14)
Do you believe that the Lord will fight for you? Pushing everyone and everything out of the way in order for you to see clearly that you are precious to Him – you are wanted – you are worthy (even in your sin) – you are loved. I say those things everyday to my clients young and old. You never out grow the message of knowing someone is fighting for you. As I was reading the above passage in the message version I found myself laughing out loud. It says in Exodus 14:14, “ God will fight the battle for you. And you? You keep your mouths shut!” Well, if that is a not a clear message I’m not sure what is.
Just stop.
Be quiet (shut your mouth).
Pay attention to me.
I am fighting the battle for you.
Why is that hard for us? Why do I still try to fight my daily battles alone without remembering the battle is being fought by my Father – and by the way, it has already been won. The good news of the gospel is real and it impacts us daily. Why do I say almost the same thing to every client (and myself) that walks into my door? They walk in exhausted by the battle because they forgot it wasn’t their job to fight for themselves– it is their job to be still listening intently for their Father – even in the desert (pain) He will show up.
We are so busy flailing around that our bodies and souls become depleted to such a frantic level that we feel we’re under water trying to breath in. My friend asked me the other day if I ever forget to breathe. At first I thought what kind of crazy question is that?? Who forgets to breathe – I forget a lot of things but breathing I do pretty well. What she was trying to say was this… my life is so out of control and crazy – I’m fighting my battles and making life work – I’m running myself into the ground so much that simply taking a breath is hard.
In my flailing the Lord has been gracious to show me that He is not tired of fighting for me. His desire is that I sit and be still. I so want that in my life. He is teaching me the value of more silence and less flailing. My four-year-old son told my husband last night at bedtime that when I come pick him up from school I always say, “There’s my beautiful boy!” Now I didn’t realize I say that to him at pick up time from preschool but I’m so glad that is what he hears. At the end of a day in preschool our children aren’t the best looking in the world – there is usually paint somewhere on clothes, dirt on his face, and a piece of leftover lunch smeared on the front of his shirt. Can you image how God responds to us when we show up (dirty and tired) to sit with him… I wonder if it sounds similar to my greeting with my son… There’s my beautiful girl/boy –
I love you so much, come be with me and rest.
author Jennifer Ervin