20 July 2015 - the LORD himself will fight for you

Why did you do this to us?
Why did you bring us out of Egypt?

Do we recognize this complaint of the Israelites fleeing Egypt? We probably should. Most of us have experienced situations in life where initial success gives way to complications that make us despair. Setbacks make us wonder whether we should have started in the first place. We start out from Egypt but it isn't simply smooth sailing to the promised land. We start to complain.

Maybe some initial victory in the Christian life has given way to a lack of progress. Even if the initial victory over sin which God gives us is miraculous and amazing the Egyptians will still pursue us. This can cause us to lose heart. We realize that the initial victory is never going to replace a life of sanctification. Looking to the struggle ahead can sap our motivation. We are, if we realize, considering how this struggle would be if we did it under our own strength.

But we do not fight alone. 

The LORD himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still.

He delivers us. And it makes us a difference. Our lives are much better having left Egypt even while we are still in the desert. We are no longer slaves to sin even if the full range of our freedom is limited. God's deliverance does not end when we leave Egypt. Every time we experience it in our lives we are forever changed. It isn't a hamster wheel of endless struggle. Progress is real by his power.

Fear not! Stand your ground,
and you will see the victory the LORD will win for you today.
These Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.

Let us bid good riddance to the Egyptians who pursue us. Let us keep still and watch as the LORD himself fights for us.

If we are facing backward toward Egypt let us repent (that is, turn around) and face toward Jesus. He is greater than Moses through whom God led Israel. He is greater than Jonah. The journey on which he leads us is more than merely crossing through the Red Sea. It is more than three days and nights in the belly of a whale. He leads us through death to everlasting life. Let us follow him and listen to the wisdom which is greater even the Solomon. Only this wisdom can bring us safely through death to life without end. Only in Jesus can we find the victory for which we long and the rest that we seek.

I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant;
horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
He is my God, I praise him;
the God of my father, I extol him.