Stand Still and See
(Pt 1. Mini Series on the Red Sea)

"Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD,
which He will accomplish for you today."
Exodus 14:13
Reading: Exodus 14:10-14.
Days out of Egypt, Israel found themselves cornered. In front lay the Red Sea; behind came Pharaoh's army. "So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD" (v 10) — and then they turned on Moses: "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?" (v 11). Trapped people say bitter things. God did not answer their bitterness. He answered their trap.
Then Moses gave an order that must have sounded impossible. Not "fight" — they had no weapons. Not "run" — there was nowhere to run. "Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD" (v 13). Their part was not to achieve the rescue but to watch it, and to receive it.
That is still God's word to the cornered. Whatever hems you in — your circumstances, the memory of your sins, a guilt you cannot argue away — the instinct is to do something, anything, to save yourself. But no effort of ours parts that sea. The salvation is God's, and it is a Person: the Lord Jesus Christ, who died and rose again to bring sinners out. Stop trusting your own strength, and look away from yourself to Him; And notice the last word of the promise: "which He will accomplish for you today." Not someday. It has a "today."
Prayer: Lord, I cannot save myself. Turn my eyes from my own efforts to Your Son, and let today be the day I trust Him. Amen.


