My life verse is Exodus 14:14 (NIV) “The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still.” This verse has carried me through some tough times in life.
Yet, Exodus 14:14 is not in the Biblical story where I thought it was. I had thought it’s where the Israelites are being led into the promised land. My brain had an image of them standing on a hilltop looking down on a lush, green valley across the Jordan River.
Nope. Exodus 14:14 comes as the Israelites are being led by Moses out of Egyptian slavery. Their backs are to the wall, if you will. Moses has led them to the edge of the Red Sea. The Egyptian troops are chasing them. They’ve got chariots and arrows, all kinds of weapons and armor. The Israelites have nothing.
Can you imagine what they are saying to Moses in this moment? You’re no leader, you idiot. What a mess! And they see only two options. One: surrender and return to Egypt as slaves. Or two: be killed. Wow! Neither option is very good. In fact, both options completely suck.
Imagine the scene. The Israelites see these two black and white options and start complaining louder, shouting at Moses. “Hey, if you’re such a great leader, what are you gonna do?” Or maybe, “Oh, yeah, you said you’d save us and now we’re sitting ducks.” The barrage of criticisms continue. “Really, Moses? You had us escape, but you’ve got no plan?”
I envision they are scurrying about, yelling and shouting. Some are gathering sticks and rocks desperately trying to create makeshift defensive weapons. A dust cloud grows on the horizon as Pharaoh’s chariots with Egyptian warriors advance on their position. Absolute pandemonium.
And Moses raises his hand, asks for silence and says, “Don’t worry. The Lord will fight for you, if you will be still.”
Uh, yeah, right, Moses. That Lord who didn’t fight for us while we’ve been slaves in Egypt for 400 years? You want us to trust Him? And, really, Moses? You want us to be still? To be peaceful? Check it out, Moses. Are you blind? We’ve got the Red Sea on one side and Pharoah’s army galloping toward us. You want us to be still? Yeah, right.
We’re dead if we stay still. Pharaoh’s men take us back into slavery in Egypt and we’re as good as dead. Or they kill us right here, right now as punishment for escaping.
Two options. Neither is very good. Actually, both ways lead to death. Both options suck.
Take a deep breath. Notice that the tempo changes. Here comes God. The Third Option. The option that comes when we are still – when we surrender, when we trust, when we invite peace, when we love the Lord, when we let go and let God.
The scene changes from chaos and darkness to light and calm. Moses thumps down his walking stick. And. A. Miracle. Occurs.
The Red Sea parts. The water miraculously piles up as liquid mountains on either side of a dry path leading across.
The Third Option.
The Israelites are stunned and frightened in awe at the power of their God. He made a dry pat through the water. Amazing.
We’re human, not perfect. So as the Israelites cross the dry bed of the Red Sea, some are thinking, “Can’t Pharoah’s warriors follow us and still get us, kill us?” They turn their heads back to sneak a look.
Their God, our God, the Lord who will fight for us and gives us peace when we are still is there. The God who fights for us when we are listening and obeying, He protected them. He protects us.
Supernaturally, the Lord of the parting sea created turmoil for the Pharoah’s army. The wheels of the chariots twisted wildly, and they overturned. A true chariot traffic jam ensued. Now it was the Egyptians crying out. “What a mess. How do we get out of here?”
But without God, the only God, the loving God, our God who fights for us when we’re still, there’s no way out. There’s no third option.
What do we need to do? What does our loving Father tell us to do when worry overwhelms our hearts? The Third Option. When we fuss about things of this world – money, clothes, relationships, schedules, stakeholders, jobs – He tells us, “I will fight for you, my beloved child, if you will be still.”
Take the Third Option!
** This article was written with no AI content.**
