Just Stay Calm

"The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm." Exodus 14

I have attempted to stand-up paddleboard one time in my life. That was one time too many. I beat myself to a pulp falling over and over again. In between my vain attempts at standing, I was sitting on the board and I saw a dark shadow in the water. I quickly got to my knees and stared into the water and sure enough swimming straight towards me was a 6-foot barracuda. I thought, "Thank you Lord! It's not a shark." Then I thought, "O Lord, Help! There's a 6-foot barracuda swimming right at me!" Mostly, I thought, "Just stay calm...just stay calm..." 

There's something about rocks and hard places that improve our prayer lives instantaneously. At least they should. The people of Israel turned to panic, fear, and angry criticism of Moses who led them between the rock of the Egyptian army and the hard place of the sea. On purpose no less! As it turns out, it was actually God's doing. He was about to display his glory. What did Moses tell the people to do? "Do not be afraid." "Just stand still." "Watch the Lord rescue you." "Just stay calm."

What will we do when it's our turn at the water's edge? They're coming. Whether they are the result of our own bad decisions, the bad decisions of others or simply the fact we're living in a world under sin's curse, the rock and the hard place are coming. We've been in some already. We may be in one today. Our tomorrows have some real doozies in store for us. Our responses in those moments will reveal what we truly believe about God and the condition of our relationship with him. As we enter our days with Jesus, we have every reason to "just...stay...calm."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tested

"He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do." John 6:1-13 Test day. I remember all too well the feelings of discomfort connected to that expression from my school days. I was so thankful the last time I had to take one. Tests felt so much like a cruel game of, "Guess What I'm Thinking?" with the author of the test. During one particularly grueling test, I noticed one of my classmates cheating like there was no tomorrow. Predictably, he aced it and I let's just say, didn't. It occurred to me later that I was actually being tested in two different ways that day. By God's grace alone, I passed them both. Philip was in the hot seat that day. Jesus, out of the twelve disciples, decided to single him out for testing. From all appearances, there was a massive resource shortage. Five thousand men plus women and children all hungry up against whatever money Judas had in the money bag. Philip was apparently incredulous as he emphaticall
Read more

Nothing Left

"'What do you mean what's the matter?' Micah replied. 'You've taken away all the gods I have made, and my priest, and I have nothing left!" Judges 17, 18 Unaware of some purchases that my wife had made earlier in the day, I didn't even hesitate to use my debit card at the checkout line. However, our bank was fully aware of all those purchases as well as the one I was attempting to make at the present moment. Clearly, the math didn't add up. Something from nothing is something less than nothing and that, as it turns, is frowned upon by our aforementioned bank. In short, the bank told the merchant there was nothing left and the merchant told me, "Declined." Micah was one panicked individual. His personal little self-directed and self-centered religion was coming apart at the seams. He had idols. He had priests. He had a shrine and even a sacred ephod (a priestly garment). All this, he thought, secured the LORD's blessing. When the warri
Read more

Who is Jesus?

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15, 16 NIV) What are your thoughts about Jesus? Every major religion on earth has an opinion on who he was. Mostly they say that he was a good man, a powerful teacher, and a peacemaker. All of that is true. But what about him being the Son of God? Peter, after being with Jesus non-stop for 4 years was confident of his identity. He was assured that Jesus was God in the flesh, the Messiah that was to come. You essentially have three options when it comes to what you believe about Jesus: 1) He was a Liar 2) He was a Lunatic (out of his mind) 3) Or that He was Lord If he was, and is, Lord, then he deserves our worship and our entire lives. If Jesus is Lord, it is true that we have access to God by His sacrifice on the cross. Join us Friday night at 7, as we reflect on Jesus going to the cross for the sins of the entire world (Good Frida
Read more