Perfect Peace

In the 14th chapter of Exodus, when God's people, the Israelites, were fleeing from their bondage under the Egyptians, The LORD said to Moses,"Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. Pharaoh will think, 'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert', And he will pursue them.

When the Pharaoh was told that the people had fled, he changed his mind and said, "We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!" So he had his
chariot made ready and took his army with him. He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. So he pursued the Israelites.

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and were terrified. They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to 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!"

In Exodus 14:14, 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 end of this matter can be found in verses 15 to 29, but the message I leave with you today, beloved, is that the God we serve is the same one who spoke to the Israelites through Moses. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.

At another time, a storm overtook the disciples on the Sea of Galilee. Like the Israelites, they too were terrified and cried out to the Lord. Jesus was in the stern of the boat, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

For those of you who travel by air, the next time you board a flight in the gloom of dark clouds, sit back and recall the Israelites and the Disciples. A few minutes after takeoff, you will find yourself breaking out of the clouds into the bright blue skies above. And remember that the God who parted the Red Sea, who calmed the Sea of Galilee, is the one who is with you through the storms of your life.

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.