“When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost”
These well known lines of a song shows us the sovereignty of God in every situation. He is in control of everything and so we can praise him. In Exodus 14:13, Moses declares when faced with the sea on one side and the Egyptian army on the other, “Do not fear! Stand firm and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.” We are in a spiritual battle against the power of the flesh. We have problems, trials, difficulties and tough situations. Sometimes we fail because we use our strength and fail miserably. We doubt God’s love. But God says through Moses, ‘Stand firm in the faith of our God. Focus and see the salvation of our Lord’.
“No situation is too big for Him”.
As we see in Exodus 14, Moses says this when the Israelites are blocked by the sea and are being chased by the Egyptian army. In verses 11 and 12, we see the Israelites questioning God to which Moses declares to ‘stand still and see the salvation of God’. God allows such situations in our life so that we see our true nature. We have a lot of chaffs like selfishness, pride etc ; chaffs that are un-christlike in nature. God wants to remove them from our lives and purify us. He does this by allowing difficult situations to arise in our lives. Deuteronomy 8:2 says ‘You shall remember all the way the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not’. God allows these situations to reveal what truly lies within our hearts. Deuteronomy 8:3 says “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.” When we face problems, we strive and fail. But God says be firm and trust in him and see his salvation.
It is very tough for us to surrender our will, especially in difficult times. In Luke 22:42-45, we see the intense struggle Jesus himself had with his flesh in order to surrender his will. He says in the midst of great agony, “Not my will, but thine”. In the same way, in difficult situations we too should surrender our wills. God has a purpose for our difficulties. Even if we fail, God has a purpose for us through our testing. In the passage Luke 22:55-62, we see how Peter denies Jesus three times and repents when Jesus looks at him. In the same way that Peter had great repentance, we too should have hope and repentance when we fail in these difficult situations. When Jesus prays for Peter in Luke 22:31-32, He does not pray so that these situations don’t arise but rather that our faith does not fail. God allows these situations to strengthen us. Whatever problems arise we need to stand firm in God’s faith.
In 2 Chronicles 20, we see King Jehoshaphat encounters a great problem and how he reacts when he learns about the plot of the Moabites and Ammonites to war against him and his people. Jehoshaphat didn’t turn to the Lord after he has tried everything else like so many us do . But instead of making preparations for war, the first thing he did was that he sought help from God. We need to understand the sovereignty and all mighty power of our God and come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace in the time of need. No situation is too big for Him and He will gladly help His children. In verse 15 God said “Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s”. We need to humble ourselves and trust God, rely on His ability and not on our own understanding and strength . 2 Peter 1:4 reads “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” Ephesians 6:10-13 tells us to be strong in the Lord and in his might and wear the armor of God in our fight against the powers of the world and of our flesh. Colossians 2:14,15 says Jesus won the battle for us on Calvary. His victory is ours and He is on our side and fights for us .
So we should stand firm on these promises that God has given to us in times of need and difficulty. May God bless us all.
