“But Moses told the people, ‘Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.’” – Exodus 14:13 (NLT)

Sometimes when your back is up against the wall, the only thing you can do is stand still. You may think, “Well, of course, but do I really have a choice?” The answer is, you do. How will you stand in that situation? When you make a choice to stand still while trusting the Lord, your outcome will be far different than when you stand still in a state of fear and victimization. Who and what you believe when you are standing still makes all the difference.

Exodus 14 tells the story of the Israelites’ flight from Egypt. As they approach the Red Sea, the Egyptians come up behind them in hot pursuit, trapping them against the body of water. The Israelites begin to cry out to the Lord and to Moses; the scripture says they panicked. But Moses issues a command. “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today.” In verse 14 Moses tells them, “Just stay calm.” Standing still in obedience to a command is a powerful thing. Any time we can calm ourselves in the midst of chaos and obey the Lord, we are positioning ourselves for an outpouring of the supernatural power of God.

I would be misleading you if I didn’t point out that in verse 15 the Lord says to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!” But I believe the power of knowing what to do next – and the ability to move again – comes from being still and calm enough to hear the Lord. Being still doesn’t mean we stay still. Staying still has a purpose. It helps us to hear better. If we can still ourselves long enough to hear the next command, we can begin to move again. That means pushing off fear while we stand still, believing God will speak in that moment of stillness. The next time you find yourself with your back up against a wall, choose to stand still and purpose yourself to hear God. He’ll give you your next move.