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 14:13-14
I’m going to mix up the order that these two verses come in first of all. In order to stand firm against Satan we need something bigger than Satan, and that is not us. Satan will triumph in a battle against us but not in a battle against Jesus. We need to focus on Jesus in our mind first of all; and then we can start standing firm.
The first advice we can get from this is to be still. Other scriptures come to mind like, ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalms 46:10). When he tells us to be still it means to focus on him and to understand that he is God. This can be done in many different ways.
Go for a walk and just admire the trees, the clouds, the sky, the mountains, the sea… (even yourself). Look about and see what God has made. A God that can make these complex things must be a God that is able to carry you through all your problems. We must have a God in our heads that is bigger than the giants that you face in life.
You can sit at home and be still and read his word. Get stuck into the Bible and read what God has to say. As you read through the Bible you will be reminded about how big and powerful God actually is. When Jesus was tempted by Satan he quoted the Bible and this helped him to get through the temptation. Reading and knowing the Bible can get us through a lot of sin because in order to sin we have to remove God from our minds in the first place. So the more scripture that is in our heads the harder it is to sin. Learn verses and then pray that God would help you to remember them in times of temptation.
And I’m not just saying that you read it and leave it there. You must put into action what you have read. Don’t just read Christ but live Christ. We won’t stand firm if we just forget the thoughts that were in our heads while we were being quite. We must continue to look towards God and focus on him.
Prayer is another one. You can still your mind and heart when you pray. Take 5 minutes out and just pray to God. Thank him for things, apologise for things, praise his name, pray for help… As you pray know that God will hear you and that he is there with you.
You can sing some worship songs or play some and listen to the words. Maybe if you play a musical instrument you can get the sheet music to songs and play them.
Just do something that makes you think of nothing else but God. Do something that magnifies God in your head as this will minimize your giants. Be still and do something that makes you know that he is God and when you’ve done that you can stand firmer.
The more time we spend being still and doing things that make us realise God and to focus on him, the easier it will become when we move away from the quite times.
Now back to the first verse. First of all God tells us not to be afraid. In 1 John 4 it tells us about the spirit of the antichrist that is already in the world. This is a spirit out to bring us down and lead us to hell. The next verse says, ‘You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world’ (1 John 4:4). Take courage from this verse. We don’t have to be afraid because God is there with us and we have already, and will continue to, overcome them because God is in us. So what are we to be afraid off?
Then were told to stand firm. Were told to not move. Were told to stand right where we are and not to run from these giants. The Israelites’ giants were the Egyptians that were on their way to bring them back. They had no escape plan and there looked to be no way out at all. But when they stood firm and trusted on God they overcome their giant. When our giants come to face us today it seems as if there’s no way out at all and most times we tend to run and get scared. Or we just walk up to them and give ourselves into the temptation. If we just hang in there and stand firm then Jesus’ Spirit, which is within us, will show us the way out, like God’s hand parted the sea.
And now for the best news of all. And this brings me great joy and happiness to share. ‘You will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again’. Now for them it was that day. I’m not going to say if you have trouble with a sin or with worry, fear or anything else, that it will go away today. Sometimes it happens right away. Other times we have to continue strong for months or years. And still other times we have to remain strong for years to come. But when we continue to have the still times and as we continue to stand firm on what we have learnt from God then we will overcome these giants. And there will be times ahead when we are free from that giant. Times when we are no longer tempted by it and times when will be more like the people God called us to be. We will be becoming more like Jesus as we have times with God and then stand firm as this is what Jesus did all his time on the earth. He had quiet times and then he went out and stood firm.
Sounds easy but I assure you this is hard so pray for yourself as you do this. Pray for me as I try to do this. And be assured that I have already prayed for you if you’re reading this. May God bless you as you read this and may you become more like Him.
Your brother in Christ,
Clifford
