Silence

Exodus 14:10-14

There are certain things that we have come to expect from God.

Things like omnipotence and benevolence. We expect God to be wise. We expect Him to have a carefully orchestrated plan for how the future will unfold.

These expectations are certainly not too much to ask from God, which is exactly why it is rather embarrassing for God (and for all of us who worship Him) when Egypt catches Him off guard. They back Him into a corner right in the middle of Operation Hebrew Freedom.

The problem is, God hasn’t really thought through the whole plan.

Send Moses to talk to Pharaoh – check.

Send plagues to punish Egypt – check.

Lead the people out of Egypt carrying the spoils of their former slave-masters – check.

Deliver Israel from the Egyptian army – oops. Forgot about that one.

And so Israel does the only thing they can do. Israel cries out to God. They were pinned against the edge of the sea by the Egyptians, and there was absolutely nothing that they could do to help themselves – and they knew it.

And God knew it.

God does His best work, not when His people make a concerted effort to help themselves, but when His people realize their abject dependence and need for Him.

“See the salvation of Yahweh which He will work for you today...Yahweh will fight for you, you have only to be silent.”

Moses speaks these words to Israel – He speaks them to you.

When you find yourself caught between the powers of the Devil on one side, and your own sinful nature on the other – be silent.

When depression, despair, and damnation are closing in around you – be silent.

Look up from the bog that grips you, and see the salvation of Yahweh which He has worked for you.

Look at the cross, and fix your eyes on Christ. God has a plan to deliver His creation.

It is a plan that began in the garden, was fulfilled on the cross, and will be made completed when Christ returns.