Thursday, July 6th 2006
Read: Exodus 14
We could go a whole month in this one chapter. But lets tackle verse 15: “Then Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Quit praying and get the people moving! Forward, march!’”
This might be the only devotional you ever read that tells you to stop praying.
But it’s not like that, really. Is it? These guys have been watching God perform miracle after miracle in their midst. They’ve been on the receiving end of many blessings and have avoided every plague that was aimed at their enemies. They’ve had their faith stretched like rubber bands as their animals, their food supply, their health, and even their first-born children were all up for grabs.
I think it is fair to guess that they’ve been praying their sandals off for the last few chapters. And then in the last chapter they engage in Passover and extended conversation with Yahweh. But the bad guys are coming. It is time to stop praying and get moving.
Yes, you should keep in open communion with God at all times and all situations. That said, there is an inclination among Christians sometimes to use prayer as an excuse to avoid confrontation. Yahweh saw that the Jews were stalling. So He was straightforward with them and said, “Quit praying and get moving!”
So many times we keep praying and asking God for him to show us his will when he’s already revealed it to us. Here’s one for you: Quit praying and get moving. Act! Quit avoiding the fight with excuses that you are waiting for God to reveal His will for you. Do not tarry any longer. Start fighting now.
Jesus told Peter and Andrew to follow him, “and at once they left their nets and followed him” (Mt. 4:20, italics added). And Jesus also said to one man, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (Mt. 8:22). Let nothing hinder you.
Look, if you don’t know what to do, talk to any of the thousands of corps officers who can affectively use you in the great salvation war. No more excuses.
“Not called!’ did you say? Not heard the call,’ I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father’s house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face—whose mercy you have professed to obey—and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.” (William Booth)
Q: Avoided God’s will by praying to Him? What are you trying to avoid with excuses?
What kind of ‘moving’ can you do, starting this week, to help the Revolution?
Youth Department