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blessings, Jamie
Moses spoke to the people: “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and watch God do his work of salvation for you today. Take a good look at the Egyptians today for you’re never going to see them again.
God will fight the battle for you.
And you? You keep your mouths shut!”God said to Moses: “Why cry out to me? Speak to the Israelites. Order them to get moving. Hold your staff high and stretch your hand out over the sea: Split the sea! The Israelites will walk through the sea on dry ground.
“Meanwhile I’ll make sure the Egyptians keep up their stubborn chase—I’ll use Pharaoh and his entire army, his chariots and horsemen, to put my Glory on display so that the Egyptians will realize that I am God.”
The angel of God that had been leading the camp of Israel now shifted and got behind them. And the Pillar of Cloud that had been in front also shifted to the rear. The Cloud was now between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. The Cloud enshrouded one camp in darkness and flooded the other with light. The two camps didn’t come near each other all night.
Exodus 14:13-20 MSG
What’s chasing you?
We often talk about the idea that God goes before us and leads us. We rest on that fact, trusting Him to clear the way, show us which way to go, and lead us through tough circumstances. But we rarely talk about how God goes behind us.
We see it in this passage. The presence of the Lord shifts from the front to the back. Why? To stand between His people and the force that is pursuing them.
What’s chasing you?
Do you believe that He stands between you and the thing that threatens your peace, your comfort, your provision? The scripture says that He has positioned Himself there to shed light on you and darkness on your enemy.
God asks an interesting question. “Why cry out to Me?” It’s not that He lacks awareness of the situation and the danger they’re in. He’s wondering why they’re worried when He is right there.
God is right there.
So do not worry, friend. He stands between you and your threat. He is bringing light to your situation and He will save you. He will take care of the enemy. Stand firm and watch Him do His work.
Lots of changes are going on in my neck of the woods. God is moving and doing all kinds of new things. I always say that I love change as long as it’s my idea. That gives you an indication of how things are going here! The Lord has been talking to me about letting go of the old, yet I find myself grieving and pouting rather than taking His advice:
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:18-19
The trouble I’m having is that I can only see tiny little sprouts of the new thing He is bringing about. I can’t really tell what it is, or what it will look like. So I’d much rather hang on to the old thing. It’s fully visible. It’s familiar.
Then, last night I went to bible study and heard a teaching on pruning. Suddenly, I realized that what God is doing in me right now isn’t about a “right” thing versus a “wrong” thing. It’s not about punishment or His preference over mine. It’s not about me giving up something so He’ll give me something in return… as if I had any negotiating power.
It’s about fruit. It’s about pruning to gain more fruit.
Even though I’ve already blogged about this subject, I find myself under the Master Gardener’s care and needing to write about the pruning process once again. There are some old blooms in my life that need to be cut away to make room for new blooms…new fruit.
Jesus talks about this process in John 15:1-2…
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
These verses tell me that all things need to be pruned from time to time. Not just dried-up and fruitless branches, but fruitful branches must be pruned as well. There goes my secret hope that He’ll leave certain things alone in my life!! His goal is fruit: more love, more joy, more peace, more patience, more goodness, more kindness, more gentleness, more faithfulness, more self-control. While some things in our lives can damage or inhibit our spiritual growth, it’s not always the removal of things that facilitates more fruit.
It’s the process of pruning that grows us, shapes our character,
and makes us more like Jesus — the most fruitful of all.
For those who fear the pruning process, let me be clear. He’s been tender… gently asking me to let go of things and giving me fair warning of what will be removed. But the truth is that whether or not I want to let go, He’ll eventually prune them away.
Our cooperation in the process makes a big difference. When we stop wrestling over the thing He wants to remove, we will see that His ways are higher than ours. We’ll see what He is really up to. He may prune out a job, a relationship, or a ministry, but what He’s really trying to root out is fear. Resentment, Selfishness. Pride. Self-sufficiency.
Can I lay down my will and my wants or will I be angry and bitter? Will I run in fear, or will I trust the Master Gardener and believe that He is doing this because He is good and He loves me? Will I learn to embrace the pruning, knowing that this process is achieving God’s dreams for me? Can I testify with certainty that pruning is good?
Holy Spirit, teach me to yield. Speak truth to me when my heart begins to fear the pruning process. Point me back to Jesus, back to the Father so that He may have His way in me.