This is a last minute post before leaving for England for three weeks. I'm hoping to keep posting from there! Blessings, Belinda

Role Playing or Reality?

Exodus 14:12-14 (New International Version)

New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
12 Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"
13 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. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Interestingly the next verse indicates:

Exodus 14:15 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.

There are probably many other wise explanations for why this happened but to me this morning, it is a reminder of the critical need to listen to God.

The direction that Moses gave to the Israelites sounds wise and sensible. How could it be wrong to "Be still," something that would have been hard with the Egyptian army bearing down upon them.

Moses' advice was good, and pointed them to trust in God, but he hadn't listened to God yet, whose direction, when he did, was to, "Move on."

This reminds me of the danger and temptation of "going it alone" or "winging it" spiritually at any point. We cannot assume to know God's plan, but we can be sure he has one. We need to ask him what it is and listen.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I can so easily fall into exactly the same mistake that Moses seems to have made - following your ways in principle, but not consulting the "Way Giver." There's a choice here - role playing or reality - in my relationship with you. I choose reality. I choose to listen. Help me to remember that there's a difference.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Voyage

Image
Note from Belinda: I read this prayer yesterday and again today--and then I read it to Susan after cell group, when we were having our "second cup" of decaff coffee together. I knew that she'd love it. She has a framed picture on her office wall of a little blond haired girl in a sail boat on a stormy sea. A fatherly sailor,with a weather beaten face; in a gray sou'wester, holds her close, as he capably mans the tiller. This prayer reminds me of that picture and influenced what I wrote earlier today, when I used the metaphor of ebbing waves to describe a lack of consistency and my desire to crash over the sandbar into the peaceful pool on the other side.  ( Susan sent me a link to the painting, which was done by American impressionist Robert Reid in 1888.  It hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in NYC.) Be bless ed by the beauty of this prayer. OH LORD OF THE OCEANS, My little bark sails on a restless sea, Grant that Jesus may sit at the ...
Read more

Samson Beaver and his Family

Image
I first posted this in 2009, a little show and tell about one of my favourite photographs. Back then it hung on a wall, but now it's in my bathroom where I see it every morning! I'd forgotten the history behind the story, researched when I first posted this and thought that current readers might enjoy it--a story from a time when this land was still being discovered, not so very long ago. This photograph was taken by Mary Schaffer; artist, photographer, writer and naturalist, in 1907. It is of a Stoney Indian named Samson Beaver, with his wife Leah and daughter, Frances Louise. I bought the photo on a postcard, on a trip to British Columbia and it hangs framed, on the wall I face when sitting at my laptop. I love it. Don't you just feel as if you could gather Frances Louise up in your arms and cuddle her? I get a deep sense of peace and happiness when I look at this family, sitting in the grass of a long ago fall. They are dressed in their best, beautiful c...
Read more

Ere Zij God--Glory to God in the Highest! A Dutch Carol

Image
By Belinda This beautiful Dutch carol was shared today by a friend of Dutch ancestry, on Facebook. I had never heard it before but absolutely loved it. It moved me deeply, especially at the end after the crowd leaves the church and then breaks into spontaneous singing again around a brazier, with the sound of chiming church bells in the background. Listen to it with headphones or a good speaker to get the full effect of the harmonies. And happy first Sunday in Advent!
Read more