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You are no doubt familiar with how the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, as they were being chased by Pharaoh. You’ll find the story in Exodus 13 and 14. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They dumped on Moses, asking him why he had brought them out into the desert to die. After all, they could have died much more comfortably in Egypt! They complained to Moses that they would rather have been slaves in Egypt than to be killed in the desert by Pharaoh’s army.
Keep in mind, they had just witnessed miracle after miracle, as God brought them out of the land of bondage, but somehow, when fear overtook them, they fell right back into their old patterns of griping and complaining. They had one giant pity party!
Here is Moses’ answer to their complaint, from 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” (Exodus 14:13).
But notice what God next says to Moses:
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” (Exodus 14:15-16).
God tells the people, through Moses, to stop—stand firm—and let the Lord fight for them. They should simply be still. And then God says to Moses to stop praying and crying out and asking questions. He’s given him his marching orders and it’s time to move. There’s a time to stand still and pray, and there’s a time to stop praying and move!
Probably the most difficult command for me to obey is: “Stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!” (1 Samuel 12:16). Come on, Lord; why “stand still”? Why not “Get busy and do this and that and then you’ll see the great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes”? That would be so much easier for me.
I don’t like standing still. I hate standing still. I love movement. I love busyness. I love activity. I love to-do lists. Let’s go; let’s do; let’s make things happen. You can do it. Just keep trying. Keep on keepin’ on. Those words are music to my ears, but not “stand still.”
Why is it so hard for us to take our hands off and let God run the show? Well, it’s hard for me to stand still because I’m a controller. I want to be in charge. That’s my personality and I’m much more comfortable when I’m running things than when I’m having to take orders. Would that describe you as well?
I’d rather drive than be a passenger; I’d rather give a presentation than listen to one; I’d rather lead than follow. So, I constantly struggle to take control of any situation I’m in. Therefore, “stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes” is hard for me to do.
When you dig a little deeper under that personality trait, you discover that the need to control indicates you think you can do it better than anybody else and you don’t trust others as much as you do yourself. Ouch! There’s a lot of pride and sinfulness tucked in that controlling spirit, isn’t there? That’s hard to take, but it’s part of the truth we have to face about ourselves.
At one point in my life when I was going through a particularly difficult period of “standing still,” I would get frustrated and start to take action. And each time, as I would start taking the controls back in my own hands, I would hear the quiet voice of God in my mind saying to me, quite simply, “Can’t you trust me?”
That’s what it takes to stand still—it takes trust. And when you and I are willing to take our hands off, give up the control, and stand still, we are saying to Jesus, “I trust you. You’re smarter than I am. You can run this show better than I can.” And when we stand still and demonstrate our faith in him, he is pleased.
But there is also a time to move, and maybe for you, moving is the hard part. You have trouble putting action to your words.
You’ve probably heard of the Tator Family—Dick Tator, the father, Emmy Tator, the mother, and then there’s Hessie Tator, the daughter. Well, Hessie is one who has trouble moving. She plans a lot. She strategizes a lot. She talks a lot, and holds lots of meetings, and makes lots of lists. But getting going—well, Hessie just has trouble moving.
I’ve noticed that procrastination is one of her biggest obstacles. She just keeps putting things off. Her intentions are terrific, but the follow-through breaks down very often.
Perhaps Hessie needs to remember what Jesus said to his disciples: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:17). Blessing comes in doing, but Hessie can’t seem to get to the “doing” stage, so she keeps missing the blessing.
Do you find yourself in the “Hessie Tator” mode too often? Jesus told a parable in Luke 6 about the one who hears the truth but does not act accordingly. Jesus said that person is like one who builds a house on the sand, and as soon as the storms come, the house collapses and is ruined because the foundation is not firm. When a person is a hearer but not a doer, they are inviting disaster into their lives, and denying the blessings that God has in store for them, for remember, the blessing is in doing, not in knowing.
I think some of us put things off because we’re afraid of failure. You know, whenever you do anything, you do run the risk of failing, but if that fear controls you, you’ll simply never do anything. And besides, no one ever succeeded without many failures along the way. Failure is a part of the process of success.
So, ask God to give you the courage to move when it’s time to move! Replace that fear of failure with the assurance that if you are moving at God’s direction, he is with you and will see you through.
You may be thinking, “How do we recognize God’s stop signs?” Well, here are some checkpoints to help you determine if it’s time to stop. As you consider some plan or situation or project, ask yourself:
- Is there anything about this that is not in line with God’s written Word?
There are times when we just want to do something so badly, that we rationalize away obvious principles established in God’s Word. For example, you’ve met someone you really like, and you’d like to date this person, but you have reason to believe that he or she is not yet a believer, does not share your commitment to Jesus Christ. Stop and think about it: Where can this lead you but into heartache? The Bible says we are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, and while dating is not an official “yoke,” it’s where they begin. You will marry someone you first date, so if you don’t date a non-believer, you’ve avoided that wrong choice.
- Do you have peace in your spirit about this?
God’s will for our lives, while often challenging, will still give us that inner knowing and peace that this is the way we are to walk. If your spirit continues to be restless about this, then stop and wait. When in doubt, don’t! James says that a person who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. So, stop and examine why you are doubting, and don’t move until those doubts are resolved.
- Have you sought godly counsel and advice?
Proverbs 15:22 says, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” It is often very good to stop and seek counsel from an objective person who is knowledgeable and truly godly.
- Are you willing to do God’s will no matter what it is?
So often we just want God to bless our initiatives. Ask yourself if you truly want only what God wants. You want to be able to truly say, “I only want to do God’s will, whatever it is.”
But then, the next question is, how do you know when it’s time to move? If you’re waiting for God to show you exactly how everything is going to work out, where the money will come from, and who will help you, you’ll probably never move. God asks us to walk by faith, not by sight. That means you take the next step, even though you may not know exactly what the next step holds for you.
There have been times when I’ve started to move in a certain direction, thinking that was where God was leading, only to find not only did the doors slam in my face, but my passion and desire died very quickly. That was a sign to me that I was moving on my plans, not God’s. At other times I’ve stepped out by faith, shaking in my boots but certain that God was leading me, and it was time to do something.
In fact, I began this radio ministry over thirty-five years ago, after praying about it for eighteen months. As I was driving to work one day, after praying about it again, God’s wisdom to me was, “You’ve prayed about this long enough; get moving.” I had no idea what to do, but decided to at least make a phone call and get some advice. Once I decided to move, God started to move in miraculous ways, and within three months the radio program began on one station in Chicago, and now it’s heard internationally on 400 or so stations. But there was a point when I knew it was time to stop praying about whether or not I should do something, and take step one.
Stop, Pray, Move! There are times in our lives when each of these is appropriate. If you’re in stop mode, ask God if it’s time to move. If you’re trying to make things happen and pushing doors open, ask God if it’s time to stop and pray. Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”