Staying Calm in an Uncertain Future
“But Moses told the people, ‘Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord Himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.’”
Exodus 14:13 -14 (NLT)
I’ve often wondered what it must have been like to be among the people of Israel during their exodus from Egypt. They’d been slaves for over 400 years. Then, a leader rose among them named Moses, and he was commissioned to deliver them out of Egypt and take them to the Promised Land. The interesting thing is that the very God who would perform all the miracles to get them out of Egypt told Abraham earlier that the Israelites would be enslaved in a foreign land, but, after 400 years, He would deliver them with great wealth! That prophecy is in Genesis 15:13-14 (NLT). Check out this amazing prophecy given to Abraham: “Then the Lord said to Abram, ‘You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end, they will come away with great wealth.’”
I don’t know if they had access to this promise, but, if they had just done the math, they would have known that deliverance was on the calendar! The God who was with them in the present was the same God who gave the promise to Abraham in the past, and He is the same God who is in the future! He knows the beginning from the end!
When millions of Jews were led by Moses out of Egypt, they didn’t go empty-handed! Even though they were poor slaves, God caused the Egyptian slave owners to look upon them with favor and give them their wealth! Look at this verse in Exodus 12:36 (NLT) “The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!”
Just as God told Abraham over 400 years before! They would leave with great wealth! Then they found themselves at the Red Sea. They were stuck and couldn’t go back to Egypt, and they couldn’t go forward into the sea! So, they began to turn on Moses and Aaron, complaining that they were all going to die! The whole Egyptian army was chasing them, and there was no place to turn! This is where God is going to teach them how to access His power for the future and remain calm in uncertain circumstances! Look at what Moses told them again in Exodus 14:13-14 (NLT). “But Moses told the people, ‘Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.’”
God had not led them out to die on their way to the Promised Land. When Moses turned to the Lord in prayer, God told him what to do. For the next few days, we are going to look at how to access God’s power for our future! Just as God knew the future for His people, then, He knows the future He has for you! You can trust your future to the God who is already there!
Another important part of your daily devotional is spending time with God in prayer. The Woodlands Church Prayer Board lists prayer requests submitted by our members and provides a way to send them some encouragement by using a button on the page to let them know that you prayed for them. Whether you use the Prayer Board, or pray from your heart, the goal is to build the habit of incorporating prayer into your quiet time.
Need prayer yourself? Let us know by submitting a prayer request on the Woodlands Church Prayer Board.