Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Shut Up!

The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.
Exodus 14:14

“Shut up!” God didn’t use those exact words but it’s what He meant. On one side was the Red Sea and on the other was the Egyptian army. Caught in the middle, without an escape plan were the Israelites. God wasn’t alarmed; from His perspective everything was going according to plan. He would fight and protect His people. What He needed from them was one tiny little thing - keep their mouths firmly shut. No whining, complaining or “poor me” please. Negative words, confessions of fear, doubt and unbelief would destroy the victory God planned. They’ll also do the same to us.

“Hold your peace.” The people were instructed to remain in the peace they’d entered when they left Egypt. Peace is God’s blessing according to Psalm 23:9. God’s strategic objective for them in this situation was to retain what they already had. To accomplish this required a guard over their mouths.

Faithless words hinder God’s work. Jesus experienced this at the home of Jairus. In order to heal the man’s daughter He first removed the scoffers and doubters. An atmosphere of unbelief would’ve hindered His ability to minister life to the little girl. A key to the capture of Jericho was the silence maintained during the march around the city’s wall.

Nothing’s changed; words still have creative power both positive and negative. When we declare God’s Word we partner with Him to manifest the victory He’s already won. Faithless words tie His hands; He won’t override our free wills. Our words reveal our motives, intents, beliefs and desires.

We can be assured that God is always for us. He does maintain His own time table and His methodology may appear unorthodox at times. He’s God, He’s entitled to as much. Equipped with more solutions than we have problems, God never hurries or panics. Always in control, God intervenes on our behalf with His plans for our victory. For now, we can “help Him out”. If we can’t speak words of faith we can shut up, hold our peace and watch Him perform the impossible.

1 comment:

  1. Mary: This is very well said. It reminds me of the Sunday at church when I overheard two different conversations that upset me. I went home a prayed and prayed some more. He finally led me to scripture that told me He had both situations under His control. I intend to listen to Him every time I find myself in those situations.

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