Be Still and Know~or Get up and Go?

Well, here’s a thought to make your head spin!

Bible study speaker Beth Moore used the following passage from Exodus to introduce her study on Miriam last weekend in Tulsa. When she read it, I immediately thought of some of my recent LightThoughts posts! Is there a contradiction here?

How many times have I quoted Psalm 46:10~"Be still and know that I AM God…." in posts reminding us to take a deep breath and wait on the Lord when circumstances begin to overwhelm us? Pretty good advice, huh?….

Then my last post was about King Asa taking courage and taking charge (see previous post)….reminding us to take our God-given talents, take some initiative, get up, and do something for the Lord.

Now, consider Exodus 14:13-15.

Do we be still and know~or, do we get up and go?

In the verses preceding verse 13 the Children of Israel are complaining and scared. God has miraculously delivered them from Pharaoh’s rule. Now they are the brink of the Red Sea when they notice Pharaoh’s army approaching in a hurry!

 “Now what, Moses?” 

           “We are doomed!”

                          “Maybe we should have just left things as they were and stayed in Egypt?”

Moses gives some positive advice in verses 13-14. These verses have probably been used numerous times when advising friends and loved ones facing a difficult situation.  “Stand firm and see the deliverance of the LORD” and “the Lord will fight for you, only be still (or silent)” In other words, “Be still and know that I AM God.”

BUT…. (and anyone that has been following me knows how much I love that word!)

BUT…as great as that all sounds….we can’t stop there because God speaks next!

Verse 15: God interrupts Moses and says NO~ “…tell the people to move forward…”!  Don’t stand firm, don’t be still, don’t be silent….MOVE FORWARD~GO!

Be like King Asa, take courage and take charge….Move forward….

I wonder why we have never considered the concept of combining Psalm 46:10 and Exodus 14 and encourage one another to “Move forward and see the deliverance of the Lord”?

Now, the question remains. When do we ‘Be Still and know…’ and when do we ‘move forward and know’?

Well, here’s my thought…knowing how we are!

When we are scared, anxious, and nervous about moving forward, we tend to use Psalm 46:10 as our ‘excuse’.  I think I will just be still and let God take care of it!

When we are riled up and raring to go, we like to consider King Asa taking courage and taking charge~without stopping to seek the Lord.

So let’s look at it this way:

When you WANT to ‘be still and know’~~~get up and go!

When you are raring to get up and go~~take time to ‘be still and know’!

Debbie

(Verse quotes are from both the KJV and the NIV)