All winter long, I anticipate the coming of spring, warmer weather, and walks outside. Yet every year, spring seems to go by so fast.
At some point in the spring, without fail, l one day look up and actually notice all of the trees filled with leaves and the grass green again. And I take a deep sign. Spring. Finally.
And then the mad rush of life sneaks back in and I forget to be still and look up at the newness of life around me.
The Israelites also had a hard time being still.
In this text, they are standing at the Red Sea, after they have just fled from Egypt and under the oppression of Pharaoh. They come across this giant body of water, while Pharaoh and his army are chasing after the Israelites, and it is seeming like they are about to be taken back into captivity.
In the midst of the chaos and fear, they look to Moses, the one who led them out of Egypt and say, “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” And Moses’ response to them?
He says, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
“Be still.” I can’t imagine they took that well. They think they are about to be recaptured by the Egyptians, thinking they need to be on the run and Moses tells to do the opposite and be still.
I can’t imagine we would take that well either when we are in the midst of chaos and the whirlwinds of life and told to be still and wait for the Lord.
But maybe that’s exactly what we need to do. Sometimes we need to quiet the noise in our lives to hear the voice of God.
In my life, May is one of the busier months of the year because there is so much to prep and plan for the summer. There seems to be an endless list of things to do, and the list never gets smaller. I never feel caught up or on top of my to-do list. And all the other areas of my life don’t take a pause during this time either. They continue to move forward, and I also have to find ways to balance caring for the people in my life.
But maybe, just maybe, taking time to simply be still, quiet the noise around us, and listen to the voice of God, is just what we need.
When our life is filled with so much noise, we miss the voice of God and the ways He is speaking into our lives. We tend to miss the big picture that even in the midst of chaos, it’s all about Him and He’s in control of it all. Especially when we don’t have it under control.
What a beautiful picture of grace. That even when the responsibilities never end, neither does our God. He stands right by our side and invites us to be still in Him.
May you find rest and stillness in Him.
