As always, I have the girls put their name in for a special give-away. This session, Joanna Partridge won a leather-bound journal that I had purchased from Florida. Congrats Joanna!
In session 3, Priscilla Shirer started us off with a story about a train. She and her husband were put up in a hotel during one of their travels. They were exhausted and immediately went to bed to get some much-earned sleep. To their dismay, a very loud train passed by their hotel window three times in the night. Unfortunately, the next morning, they were sleep-deprived. The host who put them up heard Priscilla's story about the train the next morning. Her response: "We're so used to hearing the train that it doesn't phase us anymore. I'm so sorry."
Could it be for us in America, that we are so used to God on every side and the blessings of God, that when the "train of God's glory wants to fall in an unusual way, we don't recognize it anymore?"
Her question was this: "have we become desensitized to God's activity?"
She mentioned that "God is predictable in His character but He is completely unpredictable in His activity." God cannot be put into a box.
In the theme verse from Exodus 13:17-18, we can see that God is unpredictable in the wilderness travel portion of our journey.
There are two questions asked about our own wilderness journey:
- Why does God allow it?
- What am I suppose to do to get through?
Exodus 14 gives us a portion of the answer to the "how" question:
"But Moses said to the people, "don't be afraid. Stand firm and see the LORD's salvation He will provide for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again."
They must count on God to do what seems impossible.
If you are at an impossible situation in your life right now, there are 4 things that will help you determine how you can best face the impossible:
- Be Fearless. Fear is natural. They're facing the Red Sea, plus their enemy is coming up behind them. With the Holy Spirit's power, we also do not have to be afraid. "God sympathizes with us in our humanity, but in His deity, he can perform a miracle." Fear used here in Hebrew, is a fear that results in paralysis. Another derivative used in Deut. 5:5 is used as "what you are anticipating might happen." The two greatest sicknesses are "what if" and "if only." Read Philippians 4:6-7. We must not engage fear, give it attention, but exchange it for an opportunity to pray.
- Be Still/Standby. Stand and still are two commands that might seem passive but actually are difficult to practice. Standing requires our will, our mind and our body to be engaged. It means partnering ourselves alongside God. It means to look for God's activity. Still requires us to wait for God to do what He will do. Priscilla said this: "the peace of God cannot hit a moving target."
- Be Watchful. A person cannot be watchful when they are moving. While we are in the middle of our wilderness or facing an impossible situation, while the enemy is closing in, right now we need to open our eyes to see God's salvation.
- Be Silent. This is the most difficult of the four commands. The Israelites had a tendency to whine and complain. Do we? When the Lord begins to fight for us, we need to guard ourselves against complaining.
As mentioned in the session, "the Israelites trusted in Him for their deliverance just not for their circumstance."
We were encouraged to take deliberate pauses throughout our day and say this:
"God, in this moment, would you give me an awareness of Your activity."
God is always active.
We said this statement at the end:
"My difficult circumstance is God's opportunity to perform a miracle in my life. I trusted Him with my deliverance, now I will trust Him to get me to my destiny. I will be fearless, steadfast, keep my eyes open and.....shh....keep my mouth closed."
Verses used in Session 3:
Exodus 13:17-18. I Peter 4:12. Exodus 14:13. John 16:33. Psalm 145:17-18. Philippians 4:6-7. Deuteronomy 5:5. Psalm 46:10. Ephesians 1:18.
