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!” 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 to be still.” Ex. 14:12-14
Heavenly Father, this story underscores how fear and worry are two of the most cunning and persistent thieves. The Israelites preferred returning to a familiar life of slavery in Egypt, over trusting you in the wilderness of the unknown. We don’t judge them, because we “get it.” A known brokenness is often easier to navigate than unknown outcomes. Help us get still, trust you, and wait.
Thankfully, we’re not facing the threat of Egyptian soldiers. Often our biggest battles are within our own hearts. You constantly tell us of your great love for us in Jesus. Yet we often look to stuff like people’s approval, success at something, control over circumstances, or financial security to be our saviors. Free us, Lord, free us.
We often struggle trusting you with the people we love. We resort to ineffective ways of spiritualizing or trying to “fix” them. It never works. Father help us extend your merciful acceptance, and your counterintuitive grace to everybody. We throw down, yet again, our attempts at being the 4th member of the Trinity in the lives of others.
Some of us are facing the unknown land of aging. We’d love to run back to the land of 30-something, but that’s not going to happen. Help us trust you as joints get stiffer and memory gets slower.
Others of us need the grace to trust you in the land of transitions and losses, old wounds and new disappointments. You’ve always been faithful, generous, and present, and you’ll never cease to be. Father, we choose stillness and trust, over fear and worry. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ tender and triumphant name.
