In times of trouble, take heart. It may be that the reason you are faced with great opposition is that God is gearing up for a great deliverance on the other side!
In the midst of this, be careful to not assume that God’s primary goal is your happiness. His primary goal is His glory, and we find true joy when we realize and rest in that.
…I will harden Pharoah’s heart, and he will chase after you. I have planned this in order to display my glory through Pharoah and his whole army…” -Exodus 14:4 (NLT)
The cool thing is, when we have God’s glory as our goal, it frees us up to receive His deliverance in many creative ways. This leads us to…
“Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today… The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” -Exodus 14:13 (NLT)
How counter-intuitive it is to simply “stand still” for God’s rescue! We so quickly rush to God’s aid in our deliverance, when all the while the thing He wants most for and from us is to simply “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) Why? Be cause when we realize and receive His deliverance without trying to add to it, He gets the most glory!
Why “just stay calm”? This requires greater faith, because if we have no part IN our deliverance, we have no control OF it… and control dies hard.
Father, give me the faith to trust you and be still, and the confidence that your deliverance WILL come in all things, I just need eyes to see it…
