Back Against Wall 2

Exodus 14: 13 "And Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today."

The context of this passage is---The Children of Israel are one million strong, and are standing at the shore of the vast Red Sea with Pharaoh's angry army charging up behind them.

They've been delivered from Egypt but it looks like Pharaoh is going to once again steal their freedom away.

A vast sea is before them, and an angry army is behind them....this is what we call having your "back against the wall."

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It's been said that two of the emotions we feel when our own backs are against the wall is a "fight or flight" response.

We want to LASH OUT, or we want to RUN AWAY.

But Israel had no chance of winning a military fight, and they had no place to which they could take flight!

There was no way open to them at this juncture...not backward, not sideward, not even yet forward...

When we can' FIGHT, and we can't TAKE FLIGHT, our third natural reaction is to PANIC, which is exactly what they did...

They turned on their leader, Moses, and attacked him,

"Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

Moses answered their attacks with a response to the crisis no one had considered...

"Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord..."

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One of the hardest things to do when you're in a crisis is to STAND STILL...

We want to DO something, take some ACTION, or ESCAPE the trial altogether...

David wished in one of his trials, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove. Then I would fly away and be at rest" (Ps. 55:6).

But that option wasn't open for him.

There were many times in David's life when he couldn't fight and couldn't take flight!

His back was against the wall over and over again, and it's the same for us...and many of you right now are in this spot!

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Now, to bring balance to this, let me be clear that when we DO have the ability to do something--to fight back, to make changes, to solve the dilemma--we should make every possible effort.

But there are times when we can do nothing—when our situation must be left to the Lord.

As King Jehoshaphat prayed when a great army was advancing to attack Israel:

2 Chr. 20: 12 "O God...we have no power against all these men who are coming against us. We do not know what to do. But our eyes look to You.”

Under these circumstances, God calls us to "be still" before the Lord and wait patiently, quietly, and courageously.

No doubt about it....The last thing our flesh is inclined to do is STAND STILL and do nothing...

But that's what I want us to catch today---the Bible teaches that standing still IS doing something!

Because the words Stand Still mean, "to set or station oneself, take one's stand."

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A great illustration of this is found in the story of one of David's mighty men...

There were three mighty men altogether--Ad'ino, Eleazar, and Sham'mah.

Ad'ino is known for conquering the Philistines against insurmountable odds...

Eleazar won his battle with the Philistines in spite of indefinable fatigue...

And Sham'mah held his ground for insignificant reward...

It is what Shammah did I want to take a brief look at.

When the Philistines gathered together in a troop to plunder and steal a barley field from the Israelites, the Bible says:

11"When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of barley, Israel’s troops fled from them. 12 But Shammah took his stand (stood still, stationed himself) in the middle of the field."

And from his position of standing still the Bible says, "He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory."

Notice, he first stood still and stood his ground, and THEN he defeated his enemy...

Standing still in faith and trusting God preceded his victory!

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Now...The kind of "stand still" Moses instructed Israel to do is the same kind of stance Shammah took...

It was not a PASSIVE stance where they were supposed to just let the enemy take them out.

It was more a military stance, a stationing of themselves on the spiritual battlefield with steady resolve, standing firm in their faith, holding their ground.

Standing still in faith before God is not putting up the white flag of surrender, it is not a passive, "give up" position...

It is the best thing you can do when your back is against the wall!

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It is the same thing Paul instructed the church to do three times in Ephesians when talking about spiritual warfare:

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to STAND against the wiles of the devil....Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to WITHSTAND in the evil day, and having done all, to STAND...STAND therefore..." (Eph. 6:11-14)

The "standing still" Moses commanded Israel to do was actually a "battle stance of faith..."

It said, "I am helpless to do anything on my own behalf in this trial, but I believe God will undertake for me!...so I'm going to stand still in quiet resolve, knowing that He is going to fight on my behalf!"

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One of my favorite Psalms says, "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted..." (46:10)

"Be still" is a similar command; it means "to be relaxed, to not make an effort, not putting forth exertion, but leaving the matter with God...it is to be free of anxiety about the issue."

When your back is against the wall and there is nothing you can do to deliver yourself, then "standing still" in faith and trust is the battle stance you take...

You're saying, "My God will deliver me, I rest in Him and will not fear!"

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David wrote in Ps 37, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass..."

David advised this in a time of great trouble in his life...When he was under attack from all sides by wicked men who wanted to kill him....

He could say this Because he believed what he wrote next...

"...the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble. 40 And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him."

It is when we're standing still, resting in Him and rehearsing His promises, that God moves on our behalf!

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So...Before going forward, Israel was commanded to STAND STILL...

And then secondly, Moses said...

II. Stand still and SEE...

This second command is a FOCUS verse...

In spiritual warfare, your STANCE and your FOCUS are the two keys to whether you win or lose, whether you walk on the water or sink...

Moses understood that Israel could STAND STILL but still have a DEFEATED FOCUS...

And let's face it....It's easy to understand where their focus would have naturally gone---to the army coming up behind them, or the sea stretching before them...

If they had FOCUSED on either or both of those, STANDING STILL wouldn't have done them a bit of good!

"Stand still....and SEE the salvation of the Lord."

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This is why there are so many Bible passages telling us where our focus should be!

Col 3:1 "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand."

Heb.12:1-2 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith."

Ps. 25:15 "My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare."

When your back is against the wall, STAND STILL and FIX YOUR FOCUS if you want to win!

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I'm sure you've noticed that it's in the time of trial, when your back is against the wall, that Satan drives up in his garbage truck and tries dumping "stinkin' thinkin' into your mind!

"Where is your God?" He says. "Why isn't He helping you, why is he blessing everyone but you, why isn't He answering your prayers?" and on it goes.

And if you pay attention, you will notice that Satan's number one goal in a trial is to influence where your FOCUS goes.

He'll try to get you looking back with regret, looking around with worry, or looking within with fear...

The last thing he wants is for you to look up with faith!

Because even Satan understands that FOCUS is key to your victory!

"Stand still and SEE," said Moses.

SEE the victorious Lord, the King of Kings, the Lord of the breakthrough, the victor over death, hell, and the grave, the Bruiser of Satan's head, the soon coming Lord of Lords, the Lion of Judah, the Healer, Deliverer, and Light of the World!

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Our nation is obsessed with looks...

I saw a very well-known movie star's picture this week, and he had ruined his face with a face-lift.

I thought, He didn't need a face lift, he needed a faith-lift, because Jesus would have changed his countenance in a way a face lift never can!

And listen: Setting your FOCUS is key to experiencing a faith-lift!

Faith is not a pill you take, it's a muscle you use, and the muscle of faith will only turn your eyes in one direction---UP!

FAITH is strengthened by FOCUS.

This is why I start every day by setting my FOCUS on the Word of God and the God of the Word.

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So the people of Israel stopped their complaining, halted their worrying, ceased their panicking, STOOD STILL, set their eyes on God!

And that is when God gave them their next step, and a miracle broke forth!

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Are you between a ROCK and a HARD PLACE today?

Is your back against the wall?

I encourage you to get in a battle stance by STANDING STILL in faith, give the trial to God, and SET YOUR FOCUS on Jesus!