Devotional Thoughts: Fighting, Revenge and Silence

Israelite slaves have just followed Moses out of Egypt. Liberation, hope, excitement and disbelief! Fear set in… Moses, have you brought us here to die? It’s better for us to live as slaves than to die here in the desert! Nobody could have ever predicted what happened next! Moses had been with God. He had his instructions. He was an incredible leader. The people complain and Moses raises his staff and walls of water swell up! God’s people cross over the Red Sea and the enemy is swallowed into the sea.

This verse I featured in the pic on this post comes from the ESV. Instead of be silent other versions say, be still, and hold your peace. I don’t know about you but I think being silent is pretty much something that has left the building in our society. We all have an opinion on everything and feel like it’s our God-given right to express it all over the place. Yes, these Israelite slaves were doing just that, expressing fear and discontentment with Moses and where he led them. Their experience of breaking free from slavery wasn’t enough of a miracle for them to trust Moses and believe he is God’s chosen leader for them? I don’t care who we are or what circumstance we find ourselves in there’s always the opportunity to complain and bring others down or to just hush, be silent, be still and trust God. When momma said, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all,” she may or may not have known this concept comes straight out of the Bible!

This verse doesn’t just address this but also says the Lord will fight for you. How many of us really believe God fights for us? Most of us are probably pretty oblivious to how God advocates and fights for us. Our job isn’t to fight! It’s God’s job! Our job is to be quiet, trust and obey even when we are sitting in the middle of the desert and we feel like complaining, crying and questioning. We cannot even see what’s on the other side. God knows tomorrow, and the next day and the next. If I’m a follower, a disciple, a child of God who who walks in God’s ways I need not fight. I need to be quiet, be still, be silent and let God handle His job. God doesn’t even need my protection. God wants me to do His work here in the world, not share my personal opinion and critique everything. The one who is caught up in this lives in their own bondage. Let’s do our best to be quiet, trust, be calm and keep walking. God’s got this. Let revenge be of the Lord. Nobody can level the playing field like God can!