Just Watch Me

But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the LORD will accomplish for you today . . .”

Exodus 14:13 (NRSV)

A story has been told about a lifeguard who was on duty on a California beach when he saw a man struggling 100 yards out. He ran through the waves and began swimming towards the man, but stopped several feet from him. He noticed this guy was huge, and by the look on his face, he was clearly scared to death—kicking and screaming and flailing his arms trying to save himself.

The lifeguard’s training told him he could do nothing until the man gave up trying to save himself. So, as emotionally painful as it was for the lifeguard, he sat still treading water and watching the man struggle. As long as the man was relying on his own strength and his own will and his own strategies and his own abilities, the lifeguard knew he couldn’t save him.

At last, the drowning man gave up trying to save himself. At last, He stopped kicking and flailing. At last, his deliverer could move in and take over. The lifeguard eased closer against the man’s back, wrapped his arms around the man, locked his fingers together across the man’s chest, and brought him safely to the sandy beach.

Once the man regained his senses, he praised his savior . . .  the one who delivered him from a pickle that he could not get himself out of.

The people of Israel had been delivered from 430 years of slavery in Egypt. Marching through the desert, they set up camp near the Red Sea. Pharaoh’s chariots were coming up behind them. They found themselves sandwiched between the waters of the Red Sea and the vicious Egyptian army. They cried out, whining to Moses, “We might as well have stayed in Egypt and been slaves to them, rather than dying right here at the water’s edge.” Moses responds with, “Just watch what my God can do!” And the rest is history.

Are you at the end of your trail? Drowning? Gripped with fear? Do not be afraid; stand firm, and see the deliverance that the LORD will accomplish for you today. And when He does, lift His name up. Give the Deliverer praise and honor and glory. Spurgeon, regarding Exodus 14:13, wrote, “God’s great design in all his works is the manifestation of his own glory.”[1]  

Lord, I give You all the glory today. You’ve split the sea open for me so many times and I am forever grateful for Your deliverance. I know that I’ll find myself, yet again, stuck between the raging waters of the sea in front of me and the devil racing towards me from behind. But I trust You today. I will not be scared. I will stand firm. And I will be laser-focused on Your deliverance. Thank You Jesus, Amen.

[1] C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).