Being Still before God

“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” — Psalm 46:9 (NLT)

Many times, God wants us to be still before Him, to just bask in His presence and to be sensitive to His leading.  And then there are those times when He gives us just a bit of a kick so that we would act as seen in these verses in Exodus 14:

Moses answered the people, “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.”

The LORD is pleased at this response, right? WRONG.  Moses gets rebuked in the next few passages.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.  The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

The words of Moses seemed right and yet in the next paragraph, God actually told him to stop dillydallying and to act.  Even if Moses was wrong to be lax at first, at least he obeyed God immediately when he was told to do so.  I guess God just wants us to always ask Him if it is a time to move or if it is a time to be still.  If He says to be still, we stay our hand. Otherwise, what are you waiting for (especially when there’s a gentle nagging telling you to move)? The important question is, are you listening and are you willing to obey what He is telling you?