Standing Firm in Times of Tribulation
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)
Some seasons in our lives are full of tribulations. One after the other, we encounter troubles, losses, and failures, we become burdened, full of anxiety, a few setbacks, worries, unexpected hardships and many more. The walk of faith has been challenging for a faith walker. We all have come across many moments of grief and difficulties that have always helped us realise that we are mortal beings and there is an everlasting God who takes care of us. One thing that matters to a believer of Christ Jesus in such tribulation is whether she/he stands firm in the faith through all this.
The incident that the above passage from Exodus - chapter 14, refers to is one of my favourite moments in the Bible. The Israelites, after nearly four centuries of slavery in Egypt, found the deliverance that God had granted them through His servant Moses. As the Lord's powerful hand was over His people and was leading them, the Pharoah, the ruler of Egypt, finally let the Israelites go, and they began their journey to the promised land. "When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle" (Exodus 13: 17, 18). Such was God's plan for Israel.
It is clear that Israel went ready for battles of weapons, in other words, fully armed, but God had battles of faith for them. Truly they were led by the Lord for "by day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people" (Exodus 13: 21, 22). And, as the verse above says, the Israelites were at the Red Sea, the biggest obstruction in their journey, something they could not avoid, fight against or even overcome. And as they stood there, clueless of what to do, God commanded Moses to encamp near Pi Hahiroth, and said, "Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord” (Exodus 14: 3, 4). Just a reminder at this point that in our walk of faith God purposefully leads us into situations when we think that His hand has left us and we have been left astray. But the above verses show us very clearly that we have to be closer to Him in such times as the Lord has planned these difficult situations for us to go through so that when He finally delivers us, His name will be glorified. The people around us will know that the Lord has done this great thing in our lives.
Moving further into this incident, the Pharoah changed his mind, and with his chariots and army, he came to pursue the Israelites all the way to the Red Sea. Now let's look closer at what happened. "As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They asked Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Exodus 14: 10-12). And then this message of faith, hope and deliverance came from the Lord through Moses to the people who were in anguish and in an attitude of complaint and regret. 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).
Today some of us may be at the Pi Hahiroths of our lives. On the one side, just in front of us, there's the biggest barrier in our journey of life, the Red Sea, and on the other side, the trouble, the Egyptians, chasing us behind. We are caught within these two. These are moments of tribulation. These are moments of painful pressure from different sides. These are times when we stand without an escape, and we feel we are left there, so alone, to suffer the consequences. Let the message of hope that Moses shared with the Israelites on that day be the anchor that holds us in this time of storms. Looking back at what Moses said (Exodus 14:13,14), we understand that God's word reminds us not to be afraid. It reminds us to stand firm. It calls us to be still. And we will see the Lord's deliverence today, and the troubles that we see today will never be seen again. The Lord will fight our battles.
May the power and blessings of God the Father, the love and grace of Christ Jesus the Son, and the fellowship and guidance of the Holy Spirit, be with us and deliver us, as we stand firm without fear and be still in faith to glorify the name of our Lord.
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
"Living Hope"
by Maryanne J George @ Bethel Church
