You Have Only to Be Silent

Exodus 14:12-14 [English Standard Version]

12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

So often in my life, I find myself full of anxiety and worry and stress. Mostly it manifests in a bad, grumpy mood, but I know that deep down, it's that my life isn't completely under my own control. I find this has been more true ever since the two little ones came along.

Particularly when I am up against a dead line, or something big is happening in my work - I feel the fear of messing up and leaving someone's life worse than it would have been without me, the fear of dropping the ball, or I fear feeling like a failure. When the stress is rolling over me, I find myself wondering why I even wanted to be in this line of work - why couldn't I be doing something less personal?

When I am really overwhelmed, this scripture comes to my mind. [Okay, sometimes, it comes to my mind after God sorts my stressful situation out for me, and I think, "Duh! Why didn't I think of that before?"] My troubles may not get blotted out as spectacularly as the Egyptians did, but God does tend to take care of them.

And even when He does not, even when He leaves me twisting in the wind for longer than I'd like with uncertainty or danger around me, I find that if I will only be silent in the presence of God, the worry and stress and anxiety are washed away in the sea of His power.

I need more quiet time with God - silent with Him to experience and witness His power.

Praying with Gillian

One of the best times of my day is praying with Gillian just before she drifts off to sleep. Lately, she's been wanting to say the prayers herself (which means that I say a few words and she repeats them).

One of the first nights we ever did this, after we thanked God for everyone on the planet who knows and loves Gillian (a pretty long list), out of the blue, she says "I love you God." A sweet simple little voice, full of sleep and whispers, a little bit afraid of who she's talking to, but truely loving Him too.

I sat there in absolute wonder - where did that come from? The heart of a child, that's where. It brings tears to my eyes.

Now we say that everytime she prays. And I find myself saying it a lot now too. I love my daughter, and I love that she's teaching me to love God more.

Welcome Friends

For about two weeks, some of us have been sharing scriptures and breif devotional thoughts through email. We've all found that it makes our days better.

We hope this blog will widen the conversation and spread the encouragement further.