Foundations Week 7, Day 4

Scripture Read:  Exodus 13:- 14
Title: Crossing of the Red Sea
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H.E.A.R. Entry
(H) Highlight verse:  "Fear not, stand firm , and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today.  For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.  The LORD will fight for you, and you only have to be silent.""  Ex. 14:13 - 14

(E) Explain: The people of Israel have now been liberated.  They are fleeing to the wilderness.  Interestingly, God does not lead them by the most convenient or easiest way, which would be through the land of the Philistines, but he leads them in the opposite direction.  This other direction entails a massive sea that they must cross, but God has a plan and He does not want to make the journey back to Egypt easy.  If there is a large sea between you and the land of Egypt, it makes it more difficult to go back.  
God's plan was perfect.  He sent them away and then we read that Pharaoh's heart is hardened again.  He pursues the people of Israel with a large army.  As the army approaches the people of Israel begin to complain and panic, for they see this body of water before them.  Moses assures the people that they need to trust God.  He brought them to this place and He will deliver them.  It is at this moment that Moses tells the people that this is God's battle, He will do the fighting and the people just need to be silent and allow Him to fight.  
The people see the power of God displayed as he parts the Red Sea so the people can cross to the other side.  They also see God's power as he allows the waters to recede and engulf the Egyptian army.  This display of power resulted in the people fearing the LORD and strengthened their faith in God and their they trusted Moses as their leader.

(A) Application: The crossing of the Red Sea is probably one of the best known biblical stories.  The story is great fodder for and exciting read and major motion picture.  So, I am not going to spend time recounting the whole event.  Instead I want to highlight verse 14 "The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."  
Often God calls us to action so that He may be glorified and our faith can be enhanced.  However, there are a few times in the Bible where God basically says, "Step aside and be quiet.  This is my fight, I don't need your assistance on this one."  Actually I think God says this to us more often than we like to acknowledge.  You see, often we see things happening that we don't like or we think is wrong.  We want to engage in the battle for righteousness and God's sake, and we often don't hear God saying, "This is my battle, I got this."  We want to fight and be noble, but God wants us to step aside and be silent. 
This reminds of a child who wants to be helpful to his parents, and often the parent will give the child a trivial or minor duty so the child feels like he is helping.  There are times though, when the parent is working on something that is dangerous and needs to say to the child, "I need you to step back because I don't want you to get hurt.  I got this.  I appreciate the help, but please step aside."  This is how I image God during the panic at the Red Sea.  This can be a constant reminder that if we are following God  as He leads us, we need to trust that there will be times when we need to be silent and let God do the fighting, and He ALWAYS wins.  
 
(R) Respond:  LORD, help me to trust you in the midst of turmoil and conflict.  May I know when the right time us  to step aside and let you fight the battle and when you need me to be available to you.  You are a big God and you are more than capable of fighting your battles.