Be Still

Exodus 14:14 NIV : The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

I have wanted to tackle this visually for many weeks. The verse itself is underlined and highlighted in my Bible. When I stumble upon it, it instantly causes me to stop what I’m doing and sink into the promise.

A little background adds to the power of this. Moses speaks these words on the banks of the Red Sea. The Israelites have fled their captors in Egypt and have been marching for about 3 weeks at this point. Suddenly, they see the mighty Egyptian army coming after them in the distance. They are terrified, and their fear makes them angry. They begin to shout and question everything. “Why did you bring us here just to die?” and “We wish you would have left us alone and let us stay as slaves!”

These words were spoken in the middle of angry outbursts, overwhelming doubts, and pure terror of violent looming death. In other words, God’s ability to go to battle against our deepest needs is not dependent on us. You may have no faith, but God will still act. You may be angry or terrified, and God will still go to battle for you. He will fight for you.

The most remarkable part of this, however, is what God asked of them, and thus sometimes asks of us, to be still. The Hebrew word used here is Charash, which means to be silent, to be still, to rest, to cease. Simply put, to just stop! Stop trying so hard! Stop the spinning, scheming, worrying, fighting, striving, wrestling, catastrophizing, complaining, etc.

It took me some time to decide how to represent this verse visually. While the Israelites needed God to protect them and provide a way out of their situation, God didn’t literally take up a sword and fight the Egyptians. In fact, I don’t think the ways he goes to work for us are ever violent. Thus, I wanted to depict his power and sovereignty without weapons.

I also think it’s important for us to connect with what in our lives we need God to fight for us. The dark-shrouded figures are many, and I’d encourage you to name something in your life that you want victory over. Here’s a list to get you thinking: the battle of self-doubt, patience, work/life balance, forgiveness, courage, boundaries, health, worries, apathy, pride, etc.

Being still and silent in the midst of hard things is not easy. But compared to God, when we tackle things on our own, it’s like the toy water gun sitting in front of the boy. It’s time to rest and let God take over!