By: Steve Wilmot
Edgerton, Ohio
You can imagine Pharaoh’s fury. Millions of man-hours of free labor disappearing into the wilderness. The firstborn of every family in Egypt, including his own son, lay dead — God’s final act that convinced the stubborn leader to do what he said.
Israel makes their way to freedom when Pharaoh has a change of heart. Breathing vengeance, he sends every chariot and soldier at his disposal after the murderers.
Meanwhile, Israel is, according to Scripture, “marching out boldly” (Exodus 14.8). And why not? They had just seen God level Egypt to unimaginable devastation. Water changed to blood.
Frogs and gnats and flies pestering everyone in sight. A plague that killed all the livestock, a hailstorm that destroyed their flax and barley crop, and locusts that ate their wheat crops and devoured their trees.
The nation was brought to its knees. No wonder Israel marched out boldly. With a God like that on their side, who was there to fear?
Don’t you just love those times in your life? Those times when God shows up repeatedly to defend you or to provide for you. Everything keeps falling into place. God is so good.
Your faith soars; your worship and thanksgiving soar even higher. You are ready to face any challenge because you’ve seen God do some amazing things in your life.
Then the Egyptians show up. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified” (Exodus 14.10).
Well, now, that didn’t take long. A new threat appears, and they quickly forget what God had done for them. They forget how God acted on their behalf in such a decisive manner back in Egypt. How easily they forgot.
How easily we forget. We can go from bold confidence in God to utter terror at the drop of a hat at times. Is the God who acted so powerfully for us yesterday suddenly impotent today? Is the God who stood by our side yesterday telling us we’re on our own now?
When we slip from faith to fear because we’ve momentarily forgotten God, we need someone to come alongside us and remind us. Enter Moses.
“Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still’” (Exodus 14.13-14).
There it is. Do Not Be Afraid. Throughout the Bible, we see time and again how fear arises when faith sinks. But when faith in God — the confidence that He is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do — is dominant, fear disappears. Courage replaces terror.
Why should we not be afraid, even when the entire Egyptian army is closing in on us and there’s nowhere to run? Moses answers, “The Lord will fight for you.”
Remember? Remember those times God stood by your side and fought for you in the past? He’ll do it again, just like he did for Israel while they were in Egypt. Do Not Be Afraid.
Here’s how God kept his word to Israel on this occasion: “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
“The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea…And the Egyptians said, ‘Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.’ …Not one of them survived.
“But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore” (Exodus 14.21-30).
I’m not saying God will do something as dramatic in your case, but I can assure you this: God will fight for you with the same passion and power.
Do Not Be Afraid!
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.