The Exodus Way Part 7 - Holding Your Peace

The Exodus Way Part 7 - Holding Your Peace

In this podcast we sit in that Red Sea moment: deep water in front of us, pressure behind us, and no obvious way through. We look at Exodus 13–14 and Psalm 106 and are reminded of something many of us need to hear again: God does not bring us to impossible places to mock us. He brings us there to show us who He is and to lead us into freedom.

A big part of what is unpacked here is what it means to hold our peace. When Scripture says, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still," it doesn't mean doing nothing forever. Instead, it means stopping the panic, the inner noise, and the reflex reactions that we have long enough to hear God clearly. Whilst fear may show up, holding your peace means that fear doesn't get to drive. Stillness is not passivity; it's a posture of trust enabling us to listen before we take the next step of obedience.

As Exodus 14 leads into Exodus 15 we discover that rescue leads to worship. The Hebrews didn't just survive, they sang! Is this something we can transfer into our own lives? Do we let our hearts sing as we walk with God through our own lives?

God is still teaching us the same rhythm: hold your peace, listen, move, and trust Him with the outcome.

Reflection

1. Where have you experienced a time where you thought you were ready but God said not yet?
2. When fear starts talking, what kind of story does it usually tell you (about God, yourself, or the situation)?
3. What does "reverse gear" look like for you when life feels hard (withdrawing, overthinking, anger, numbing, people-pleasing, etc.)?
4. Where might God be asking you not to force an outcome, but to trust His direction one step at a time?
5. What would worship-as-response look like for you this week. Not just expressing our feelings, but a way of saying, "God has done it" or "God is with me"?

A simple practice for this week: HOLD YOUR PEACE

If you find yourself spiralling, reacting, or feeling overwhelmed, try this (even for 60 seconds):

P — Pause
Slow down and don't react straight away.

E — Examine
Notice what you're feeling, wanting, and assuming.

A — Attend to God
Pray and bring this moment under Jesus' lordship.

C — Choose
Take the next faithful, loving, truthful step.

E — Entrust
Leave the outcome with God.

You don't have to do this perfectly. The point is simply to make space for God before fear takes over.

If you find what Dean has said interesting and have a question, please use the 'Ask Dean' link to get it to us as we will try to put together a Q and R podcast in due course. Thank you for your support and for listening in!

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at https://www.youtube.com/@leobc2402/streams and can contact us directly with your feedback or queries through the Ask Dean a Question link at the top of the episode description text.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

In this podcast, we sit in that Red Sea moment. There's deep water in front of us, pressure behind us, and no obvious way through. We look at Exodus 13 and 14, and also Psalm 106, and we're reminded of something many of us need to hear again. God does not bring us to impossible places to mock us, He brings us there to show us who He is and to lead us into freedom. A big part of what is unpacked here is what it means to hold our peace. When Scripture says, the Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still. It doesn't mean doing nothing forever. Instead, it means stopping the panic, the inner noise, and the reflex reactions that we have long enough to hear God clearly. Whilst fear may show up, holding your peace means that fear doesn't get to drive. Stillness is not passivity, it's a posture of trust, enabling us to listen before we take the next step of obedience. As Exodus 14 leads into Exodus 15, we discover that rescue leads to worship. The Hebrews didn't just survive, they sang. Is this something we can transfer into our own lives? Do we let our hearts sing as we walk with God through our own lives? God is still teaching us the same rhythm. Hold your peace. Listen, move, and trust Him with the outcome.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

So we come to this point in the Exodus story. If you've been with us, we've been journeying through Exodus. We've been through Moses and his wilderness experience. He's been brought back to Egypt. The plagues have been sent to expose the false gods of Egypt. The final Passover has happened, and now God's people have been urged to flee, to leave the land and go. And so we're going to come to that in chapter 14 of Exodus. Uh, the moment where they come to this place of the Red Sea and they cross over. And it and it ends with a big song, uh, this wonderful song in chapter 15. It says, Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. This is when they're on the other side. I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted, both horse and driver, he is hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my defence, he's become my salvation, he is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is the warrior, the Lord is his name, this wonderful explosion of praise. There are all these songs in scripture, and I can't wait for the day we get to heaven and go, what was the original tune to that? You know, like the Lord's my shepherd. We know our tune. But David, what was the original? What was your tune? How did that go? Did it have a bit more of a beat to it? Was it more of a rap? I don't know how it would be, but I can't wait to find these the original tune, these songs that are sung. But this is a wonderful song, praising God, celebrating his goodness, all that he has done. It ends at this culmination. God is praised. It's interesting because later on, the the they obviously reflect on this event. This is a huge event that's happened. Psalm 106 is one of those psalms, another song written about this event. And in there they say they talk about this event, and what they say about it is we have sinned, even as our ancestors did. We have done wrong and acted wickedly. When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles, they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea. Yet he saved them for his namesake to make his mighty powers known. He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up, and he led them through the depths as through a desert. Thinking back to the event, they go, well, there was praise, because it ends there. The waters covered the adversaries, then they believed his promises and sang his praise. So it remembers there was praise, but it also remembers something they call rebellion. There was something in this moment that wasn't just all praise and wonderful, but actually there was a rebellion that happened. There was a failure to acknowledge God as he was. And we're going to see that today as we go through this story that these people were taken from a place of unbelief, a place of fear, a place of rebellion against God. That's what how it describes it, into a place of trusting God and seeing him at work. And so we set the scene. There is water, deep water. And now we're not going to it's interesting, we're not really sure where this took place. Um so here's our map. Um so that's Egypt. Well, there's Egypt, that says Egypt there, but Egypt's also here, and Egypt's there. That's where they so it's all Egypt at that time. So they some people think that they were over here and they went across this little body of water here, called the Sea of Reeds, which, if you notice in your Bible, you'll get a footnote at the bottom and it will say Red Sea or Sea of Reeds. Um, so this is a sea with reeds in it, hence the name. Um, and so they say that that may be where it was. Some people say that actually they came down here and then they crossed over this bit of water. Others think what happened was that they came out and they came down here and actually they crossed over this bit of water, which is interesting because often we think this is the wilderness where they go round and round and round and round and round and round for 40 years, but it could be that the wilderness was this much bigger area, if you know the world map, where they went round and round before they finally came in over the Jordan this way into it. Just a bit of history, we don't know because we don't need to know. But it's nice to discuss these things and then put them to one side and focus on what God does tell us. Because the idea is whatever happens, there is this moment where they cross this body of water, they've been pursued. So they leave Egypt, they are they are supplied with people, they are they are going out, they're actually ready for battle, actually dressed and ready, and they go out and they're on their way, and then Pharaoh changes his mind. This man who's been exposed again and again, whose God has tried to show gently and then more and more harshly as he goes along, you are not God, your gods are not God. Egypt is not God, you are not all powerful, there is only one God, his name is Yahweh. And Pharaoh has seen this again and again and again to great cost to himself and his people, and yet in this moment he decides, No, I want my slaves back. And so he pursues them. And they chase uh the Israelites as they leave Egypt, they pursue them to where they are, and we get to this passage in chapter 13. It says, When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, if they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt. So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt, ready for battle. Now it's not going to be the main point of today, but it's just an interesting thing to note as we start and we notice this account. God leads his people, they're ready for battle, they're dressed ready for war, but notice what God did. He led them on a road that made them avoid war. They're all dressed ready, swords, armor, we're all protected, we're ready for this. And yet the way that God leads them is to avoid a battle. Not everything hard in your life is because of the enemy. Not every road that you go that is difficult or longer than you expected or not what you planned is because something is wrong. Sometimes God takes you on a longer route simply to protect yourself. I just don't want to, I just wanted to share that because I wonder if that's a truth for someone to receive today. The things are harder than you expected, they're more difficult, but it's not because you've done anything wrong, it's not because there is anything wrong. You're simply avoiding something that you are not ready for. Now, if I were to ask you, you'd say, Yes, I am ready. Look at me. I'm dressed, ready for battle, I've got the gear, I know what I'm doing. But God looks at your heart and says, I know that you're not. And that's what God is doing here to the Israelites. We're ready, God. We've shown those Egyptians who's boss, we've got our army, we're ready for a fight, we can do this. And God's saying, No, you are not ready yet. If you were to come there and face these Philistines, you'd make all kinds of assumptions about me, all kinds of assumptions about what I'm like, you'd come up with all sorts of theories of what's going on, and so I'm gonna lead you by a different route to spare you that because your heart is not yet ready for it. It actually turns out to be true because when they do come up against a situation where the Egyptians are bearing down, and then what do they do? They come up with all sorts of false assumptions about God, all sorts of beliefs that aren't true, and God is trying to spare them. I just wonder if God is trying to spare someone today, that the road has been harder or the road has been longer, it hasn't been what you expected. But I wonder if you were to pause, you could look back and see the mercy of God who has led you around things that you would not be able to bear. As much as you might have been able to convince yourself you were ready, God has said no because I love you. No, because I'm trying to protect you. No, because I am more committed to your freedom than to you doing all the things that you think you can do. And that's the wonderful truth. God is committed to your freedom, He is committed to you having a full life, and sometimes He will lead you around things that if you were to have them, as much as you might have prayed for them and longed for them and you wanted, and you've asked to make it easier and make it plain and make it quick and make it clear, as much as you asked that, God has said, if you were to have that thing, it would lead you away from me, it would lead you into another form of slavery, and I love you too much, and I am so committed to your freedom that I will not lead you on that path, I will take you on another so that you can be free. This is how God leads his people. And so as they come out of Egypt, they take the bones of Joseph with them, because Joseph had brought them into Egypt, and he told them to swear an oath that God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place. This promise has finally come, they're wandering out of Egypt. And after leading Sukkoth, they camped in Atham on the edge of the desert, and by day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way, and by pillar at night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so they could travel by day or night, and neither the pillar or cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. God is personally going with them, he is leading them every step of the way, he is guiding them. They are they're like a newborn baby, this new group of people, suddenly with all this freedom, suddenly liberated. And that's a very dangerous point. If you know history of the world, when people encounter freedom, when there's liberation, when an oppressor is overthrown, or something like that happens, it's actually a scary moment because people suddenly they throw off all the shackles, all wisdom, all safeguards. And so God is gonna go with them every step to make sure they're protected as they encounter this new freedom, the life God has for them. Then we come to this. Pharaoh has decided he's gonna get his slaves back. And as Pharaoh approached, they're on the edge of the sea, and they the Israelites look up, and there were the Egyptians marching after them. Chariots, armored, fighting force coming after them, and they're terrified, they cry out to the Lord. They said to Moses, Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the desert to die? What have you done, Just by bringing us out of Egypt? They immediately, here's what God was concerned about. As soon as they face this trial, they're going, Oh, this was your plan, Moses. You and Pharaoh, the graveyards were all full, were they? So you thought you'd bring us out to the desert, we can all die here, and then you wouldn't have to bury us. That was what you're up to. How fickle God's people are, how quick we are to assume because it's hard, God must have abandoned us. Because it's difficult, God must not be with us. Don't never mind the pillar of fire right in front of our face. Never mind the way we've been guided, never mind the plagues we've just seen, never never mind the deliverance. We've suddenly things have got difficult, therefore, God must not be with us. And we can all do that. An inconvenience, a path, not just an inconvenience, but a tragedy can come. At any level, whether it's inconvenient, tragedy, or anything in between, we read into it. This is what God must be like. And God is trying to show us no, these circumstances do not determine my character. The actions of Pharaoh do not shape my character. I am the God committed to your freedom, the God who will deliver, the God who will save. And here's how he does it. He says they carry on, they say, Didn't we save you in Egypt? Leave us alone, let us serve the Egyptians. It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert. This is what's going on. They've come to a moment where they're standing in a crisis. Should we go forward? Well, we can't do that. We can't go back because we're in danger. But they want to put the car in reverse. They weren't ready for something. And now they feel like they're at a red light. God stopped them in their tracks. And what we do in that moment is we put the car in reverse and we go backwards. I had a my brother had a friend actually who um was terrified of spiders, and when he passed his driving test, a spider crawled across his windscreen and he whacked the car into reverse and went backwards to try and avoid it and actually hit a car behind him. Um but when we get scared, we tend to go backwards, perhaps not to that extreme, that was a bit extreme, but but we tend to want to go backwards. We don't just stop, we we want to go. We it would be better in Egypt. Do you remember how good it was when they whipped us and forced us to make bricks? Do you remember how good it was to be enslaved and have no determination of your own? Do you remember how they took our sons and threw them into the river? Wasn't that a wonderful time we would have rather have been there than in this moment? And while we can smirk at how foolish that is, we too put ourselves into reverse. Wouldn't it be easier? Anyone felt like that? When I started following God, suddenly things got a lot harder. I had to contend with right and wrong, and I had this pull to do what was wrong, even though I knew what to do was right. I had to uh avoid certain things, I couldn't do what other people, I couldn't manipulate the system, and I couldn't play along, I had to stick on the straight and narrow and and do what is right and do what is good, and things got harder. People started mocking me, and I got this antagonism with my friends. Suddenly it was it was harder for me to be a Christian, and so wouldn't it be easier, just put in reverse, back back out, and join the flow as everyone else does. We start to assume God has purposely made it difficult. God has brought me here to finish me off, God brought me here to embarrass me, God has brought me here to bury me. We tend to think that becoming a Christian makes us upside down. And the truth is that the world is upside down, and becoming a Christian puts us right side up, and that does put us at odds. It doesn't mean that we're we're we're we're the ones now swimming downstream. It's the world that is swimming upstream, but it does make it difficult. But it doesn't mean that God has failed us, it doesn't mean that God is out to harm us, God is committed to our freedom. And sometimes we have to recognize that the wrong reason the world is difficult is because the world is wrong. Because the way of the world leads to death, and we're on a way that leads to life. The way of the world is destruction and heartache and pain, and the way that we are going is a different way to that. And while it is hard, you can't go back. They get afraid, fear does have a voice, it tells us the story, it interprets things, it tells us it even edits our memory. Wasn't it great to be in Egypt? It changes how we think about things, but we cannot go back. We cannot go back because what we go back to is more death. And so they this is their rebellion. This is what the psalm talks about. You may hear testimonies of people who tell you about how long they can pray and how much God has done in their work. It's all wonderful, but no testimony is really complete until you hear the part in their story where they tell you of their terror, where they tell you where their faith failed, where they weren't strong enough, and they cried out to God. Everyone has that part. We often tell the nice bits of what all the things God does, but there is always a part in the testimony where we realized it wasn't me, it was God. And here's what they do they're crying out to God, and so Moses has to speak to them. And he says this do not be afraid. Very well-known command. It's in scripture 365 times, one for every day of the year. I guess it's a big deal to God. Do not be afraid, stand firm, and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still. We've already sung, haven't we? Words to that effect and worshiped along to words of that effect. The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still. It's the kind of verse you can put on a coffee cup, you can cross stitch and embroider and put on a wool. Wonderful sentiment. The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still. The issue I have with it, I'm sorry I've got an issue with it, it's not it's not so much the idea, it's what we read into it. What we read into it is God will do everything. You just sit back, put up your feet, relax. Don't worry about it. God will win the battle for you. And that's that that's half true. Okay, the Lord will fight for you, you need only be still. But let me just show you a couple of other translations of that verse. One is the Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still. Another says the Lord will fight for you, and you only have to be silent. The third says, the Lord will battle for you, you hold your peace. And actually, the Hebrew word, the most literal way of translating it, is that hold your peace. So on one side we've got be still, which means just do nothing. It's fine, God will do it all. And there is there is a truth in that, there is something God can do that you can't do. The other is, as we just said, shh. Stop your moaning, stop your jabbering, stop going on, stop trying to read into the situation, just be quiet for a moment. Shh, stop, okay, I can hear you, okay. Be quiet, listen to what God is saying. And the third idea is just hold your peace. Hold your peace. God is going to do something, but if you're so busy concerned about what's going on, if you're too busy reinterpreting and narrating the situation, if you're too busy making assumptions and listening to the voice of fear, listening to the voice that's in your head, if you're doing that, you're not gonna hear what God has to say next. You're gonna miss who God is, you're gonna misunderstand him, and the next thing is that you're gonna miss what he's gonna tell you to do next. You're gonna miss his instruction. You need to be silent and hold your peace. Throughout scripture, we're told things like, be still and know that I am God, that we wait on the Lord. And for in our culture, that just seems so passive. And so for some of us, we find that very frustrating. Someone says, Don't worry, just be still. And you think I can't be still, there's so much to do. I can't be still. In scripture, be still is not a passive thing, it's an active thing. It means all of these things. It means realize there's something only God can do. It means in the polite way I can say it, shut up for a second, stop, stop talking, stop interpreting, stop reading things into the situation, and it means you already have something that you can do. You can hold your peace. God has given you something, His peace is given to you, and you need to hold it. If you're not holding it, everything's gonna fall apart. When I was, I think I was about 12 years old, my friend and I, Keith, we got sent off, our parents sent off to Germany. My uncle used to live in Germany, and we got put on a plane. I don't think you'd be allowed to do this now. We got put on a plane for a half term, went over to Germany, and um went to my uncle and we went skiing for a few weeks, and then got put on the plane and sent back. Um we did it all by ourselves, no parents, no chaperone going with us. Um, and and and it seemed normal at the time. Looking back now, it terrifies me. Uh I don't know how it worked. But we did that and we got given put on the plane, given all our stuff. Here's your parts but passports, hold on to them, make sure you don't lose them. So we got on the plane and flew over to Germany, uh, got off the plane. As I was getting off the plane, I remembered I'd left my seats in the chair. So I ran to the back of the plane, got my suites out of the chair in front, came back, and we were walking through, following the crowd. I guess that like I said, I don't really know how we knew what we were doing, but followed the crowd, got to the the um the check-in, and my friend Keith looked at me and said, Wouldn't it be funny if we left the passports on the plane? I'd remembered the suites, but the passports were still in the chair in the back of the plane. I'd failed to hold on to them. So there was a then the two-hour wait of them having to pause the plane because it had been sent off to get ready to send somewhere else there to get our passports off. My uncle before mobile phone, so they didn't know that we didn't have any contact or know what was going on. Anyway, we got there, we got back, I'm still alive and we survived. They got our passports to us. But when you haven't got your passports, there are certain things you can't do, certain places you can't enter into, certain gates you can't pass through. And the same is true with peace. If you aren't holding your peace, God has given you peace, he's given you victory. If you aren't holding it though, there are certain things that you will not be able to do. When Jesus resurrected from the dead, like I said, this is the parallel. Jesus resurrected from the dead, he came to his disciples who are afraid, and what did he say to them? My peace I give to you. My peace I leave with you. I don't give to you like the world gives to you. So here's peace. You need to hold on to it. I'm gonna give it to you, but you need to hold on to it. But if you don't hold on to it, then when you come to a moment like this, you're gonna fly off in all kinds of directions. You're gonna react, you're gonna defend, you're gonna get protective, you're gonna panic, you're gonna fall apart. And the reason is because you're going, where's my peace? I've lost it, I've put it down somewhere, and now all I've got is me, all I've got is my strength, all I've got is my ability, all I've got is my knowledge and my understanding of the situation. That's all I've got, and so I fall apart. But if I hold my peace, if I can hold my peace, it's not it's not something I it's not based on the situation, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives, it's not based on the circumstances, it's a peace only God has can give me. He has been victorious, he has already defeated the enemy. Pharaoh has already been exposed. God has already shown that he alone is God. I give you my peace. If you hold this, then even though there's a sea in front of you and an army behind you, if you hold my peace, one, it will stop you panicking, stop you reacting rather than responding, stop you being protective or defensive. And the second thing, when you hold my peace, then you can hear my voice. I think the main reason we struggle to hear God's voice is because we don't do so from a place of peace. Normally we were seeking God out of Place of panic. This has gone wrong, God. Would you fix it? This is awful, God, and would you make it right? They're going in this direction, and would you come in and our prayers, our first prayers, not that they're wrong, but they're normally from a place of panic. Something has happened, God, would you fix it, please? Come on, you've got to sort this out. Come on, God, I'm really need you to do something. Please, do something. And God would come to us and say, still, quiet for a second. Hold your peace. And when we do that, maybe it goes silent for a moment, but we're in then a posture, a position where we can finally hear what God says. Because what when God speaks to them, here's what he says to them. Tell Moses, the Lord said to Moses, why are you crying out to me? Why do you keep talking? Why do you keep praying? Tell the Israelites to move on. All the while that they're talking, all the while that they're jabbering and doing the things they think they need to do, they are missing God's instruction. And God's instruction to them is move. Move. But all the while that they're talking, they're going to miss that. God gives them then a green light. It's a bit like that they're in the situation that the red sea is a red light in front of them. And you know when sometimes you're at the red light and your mind wanders and you miss it change and someone has to beep you. That's what God's doing here. Beep, beep! Come on, move on. Come on, go. It's a green light. And they're going, no, it's not a green light because there's a sea in front of us. So God says, okay, go, and as you go, you will see what I mean. And so they go, and this incredible thing happens. Moses raises his staff, the sea divides, and they can go through on dry ground. But they would not have heard that if they continued in their place of panic. The God's green light to them is you can move forward. You can step forward. I am with you. I am for you. I have delivered you. I have freed you. I have shown you who I am. I have protected you. And because of that, you need to get moving. And so there is a kind of do nothing here. Stop trying to save yourself. Stop trying to interpret the situation. Stop trying to control the outcome. But there's also a do something here. Move forward. Not because it's easy, not because you feel brave, but because God has spoken to you. And if God speaks to you, he will give you the power to do what he commands you to do. And when he says move, he'll provide the means to move, even though it looks impossible. And so they do. They move forward. And the sea parts. Now I imagine that that is a moment of faith, but I imagine it wasn't all, yeah, woohoo! Look at God, let's go, kind of faith. I imagine some of it was let's get some armbands on these kids, kind of faith, before we step in there. Some of it was this is a bit, I'm not really sure about this kind of faith. I'm sure there were some crazy ones who are like, this is incredible, let's do this, look at this. But I imagine there was a whole mix. Faith doesn't look like one thing, it can be a whole range of things, but faith is something that says, I trust you, God, so I will take a step. I've often shared to you, that was my first prayer when I came to faith. All my questions, all my wrestling, trying to work out is there a God and is he good and does he look like Jesus? And finally I came to a point where I said, God, I don't know everything about you. I don't understand all this, I don't really know what's going on. I feel a bit scared actually, because I'm not sure what this looks like. But if you are this, looking at Jesus, what I do. I read a gospel and I said, if this is you, Jesus, I'm willing to take a step. And I took a step and the sea parted a little bit. So I took another step and the sea parted again. And basically, that is my story of faith. You take a step and you see it part. You see you go forward, you move because you hear in some way God saying move. And as you move, you find that God provides, that God empowers, that God sustains, and our faith comes to fruition. Our faith in God is proven to be true. Not because we stay put, but because we move forward when God said move. Some of us have enough faith to believe God will take us through death into heaven and on to eternity. But we lack the faith to take the next step that He's asking us to do. And here we see that that same faith that gets you to heaven is the same faith that allows you to hear God and take the step he's asking you to stay to take. But it means you've got to be quiet for a second. It means you've got to be still for a moment. It means you've got to stop all your noise, stop all your fretting, stop reacting, take a breath, and just receive what you already have. My peace has already been given to you. See, the reason they look back on the Red Sea was because they could always say, He did that. No matter what we encounter, if we face Goliath, if we face the Philistines now, if we get conquered, if we get taken away, he did that. He took us through that Red Sea, and because he did that, we always know that we can look to God. We can they they don't always do it, but they that's this is the thing that keeps bringing them back. He did that. And us as believers in the New Testament, as those people on this side of the cross and resurrection, we look back and we can say, He did that. He died and he rose again and he called me by name. And he did that. No matter what happens in my life, he did that. Nothing will ever change that, nothing will ever stop that, nothing will ever make that untrue. That is true, and because that is true, I can go forward. We sing a song like that, don't we? Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future. I can live because he lived. This is it, this is our hope, this is our rock, this is our Red Sea. And so the New Testament talks about this. The thing with baptism is a picture of the Red Sea. And that actually it's the Exodus story that's most often referenced as as the picture. As they are baptized into the Red Sea, it says, and they come out the other side. So we are baptized into Christ and come out the other side. Our enemies are defeated, victory is won for us. God has won the battle, he has defeated it all, he's given us his peace, and now we walk with him. We walk in him, we walk through with him, even though it may be a valley of the shadow of death, just like it was a valley of death, walls of water on either side, any moment possible to cave in, but God is with us, and so he brings us through to green pastures. And so this is not just about our salvation, although it very much is that, it's also the way that we live. We go forward because God leads us forward. We take our next step because God shows us. It's a bit like uh um Lazarus. You've got the resurrection, but you also got the resurrection of Lazarus, where he's brought out of the tomb, but he has to take off these grave clothes before we can experience life again. Do you remember that part of the story that he calls Lazarus out? And then they say where he's the grave clothes are still on him, he has to be untied, he has to be unbound. Jesus tells them to unbind him so he can do that. Some of us it feels like we've been brought out of death, we've been brought through the Red Sea, but we've still got some of the things clinging to us. Old shame, old patterns, things that, like Pharaoh, hunt us down, chase us down, things that we try to escape, and they're always there on our tail trying to get us coping mechanisms and lies and addictions and bitterness and unforgiveness, these things that chase us and chase us. And Jesus would say to us, Those things have been defeated. But for you to move on, you need to hold my peace, and then you need to do the next thing that I tell you to do, and then the next thing after that, and then the next thing after that. And some of us we we get stuck because we're there crying out to God, just like they were, and God says to us, Why are you crying out to me? Why do you keep asking for me for that? You know what to do. Move on. God, would you help me to whether I should forgive someone or not? You don't need to pray that prayer. God has told you to forgive. You might need to pray, God give me the power to forgive or give me the strength to forgive, but you don't need to ask whether to. Should I love this person? It's not a prayer you need to ask. You have been called to love someone, you've been called to give yourself for others. The strength, you can ask for the strength to do that, and the wisdom and the grace to do that, but you don't need to ask that. And yet, so often we we're crying out to God, asking him to lead us, and he's saying, Move, move, and when you move, you'll see my power. I mean, we could extend this to things like the miraculous. They see the miraculous because they listen to God. God says, Move. This is how all of Christian life works. There's the another old song, trust and obey. Do you remember? There's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust. That's it. I listen and then I do. But to listen, I've got to be quiet. I've got to be still, I've got to remember I have his peace. And when I have that, then I can hear his voice and I can take the next step. This is the Exodus story, this celebration. And as I said, it ends then in Exodus chapter 15, where God has done it. And as they look back, which is so often how Christian life is read best, not in the moment, not in the trial, not in the difficulty, but when you've been brought through, suddenly you see clearly. And they sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Horse and driver has been hurled into the sea, and they can say, The Lord is my strength and my defence. He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a warrior, the Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh's officers are gone. The deep waters have covered them, they sank to the depths like a stone. Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger, it consumed them like stubble. By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up, the surging waters stood up like a wall, the deep waters concealed, congealed in the heart of the sea. God is praised because God has done it. But the way that they received what God had done took an act of faith. There are some things that are impossible for us. There are enemies that are impossible for us to overcome, but God has overcome them. And now he invites us to hold his peace and to walk in faith, trusting that he will lead us through whatever may be in front of us, whatever difficulty. Don't be tempted to go in reverse. Don't be tempted to panic. Hold your peace. Hold your peace and then take the next step that God gives you to take. This will land with different people in different ways. For some, it means that you've got to put the car back into first gear and cut going forward because you've been in reverse for a while. For some, it means that you need to realize that the path you're on isn't necessarily because God is against you, He's been protecting you. For others, it will simply be a case of recognizing God will do it. God will deliver you, He has won the battle, He has conquered, death is defeated, life has been won, sin is no more. Any accusation against you is not yours to have. There is no condemnation if you're in Christ. You've been baptized, your old way is gone, and a new has come. And while patterns and temptations will chase you, they do not have the final word because Jesus your Savior does. You can leave them behind and you can move forward because your God has won and he is with you. And so we're just going to pray because, like I say, it's the Spirit's job to apply this to you, to show you where it lands and what you need to leave behind to show you your next step. And so, Father, we just we just take a moment to hold our peace. To pick it back up again. We don't know where we last left it. Perhaps some of us can't remember where we last saw it. But Jesus, you said to us, My peace I give to you. And so we receive that peace now. A peace that says, There is now no condemnation. I am at peace with my God. A peace that says, every enemy that wants to destroy me has been laid low. I do not need to fight that battle. A peace that tells me that the love of God, all his grace and his mercy is mine in Christ. The peace that tells me I am known and I am held. The peace that tells me that I have a shepherd who will lead me and guide me and protect me. And as we hold that peace, God, we just ask that all the fears, all the pressures, all the noise, all the clamor, all the striving that it would fall away. Help us to hold our peace. The peace that you have won for us. The peace that you have given us. And in that place of stillness, suddenly we feel ready to hear your voice. Ready to hear what our next step should be. Whether it's something to do or a new way of thinking. Whether it's something you want to form in us, a character that you want to grow, a fruit of the spirit that you're trying to cultivate. Speak now, God. And as we sense your leading, there is another voice that says, Well, that's impossible. I can never be that person. I can never change that pattern. I could never leave that kind of way behind. Help us to move forward, God. And as we move to see your power, as you parted the sea, would you part any obstacle in front of us? Would you remove anything that seems impossible to overcome? And would you lead us through? As you lead your people, God, may our response be the same as these Israelites. Praise and wonder at a God who has done it. And a God who overcomes every obstacle, who throws down every enemy, who breaks every chain and removes every barrier, a God who is so committed to our freedom that He will do whatever it takes. And you have done whatever it takes. You, Jesus, when you came and you died on that cross, when you were spat upon and beaten, when you were left to die and laid in a tomb, you did everything it takes. You were committed to our freedom. And then you overcame death and you rose again. And you removed that stone and you walked into life in its fullness. And you came to your people and you led them. You have done whatever it takes. You have proven your heart for us. Your heart of love, your heart of grace. You have done it. So may we live as people not of fear, of panic, not as people of striving and performance, but people who have been given the peace of God and who walk in that peace, who walk in that life, and know freedom in all its fullness. May we not stray far, God, from the gospel of your death and resurrection. May it be the story we retell again and again. May it be the reason we sing. Because in it is the hope and the power for each one of us. Lead us, Lord, as we respond now. Lead us as we celebrate all that you have done in our lives. We ask it all in Jesus' precious name. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 38:44

We hope that you've enjoyed listening to Dean's thoughts today. If anything that he has said has challenged you or raised questions that you'd like answers to, please don't hesitate to contact us and ask for a chat. You can find our details on our website, which is theobc.co.uk, as well as on the information that we have posted for this podcast. Alternatively, if you live in our area, you are very welcome to join us on Sunday morning at 10 30 to hear things first hand. We'd love to see you there.