Sit Down and Shut-Up!!!!

How many times as a mom (and to be really honest...as a teacher) have I wanted to just say "Sit down and shut-up!" Of course I don't say that, but I have thought it. You know when..after I have been asked for the bigillionth time..."Are we almost there", "When do we get to go to.....", "When can I have......" "How can we possibly" and on and on and on.

After the kids have asked me and asked me and asked me and I have answered... "Soon", "Almost", "I've got it all planned out"... and they keep asking! I want to shout, "Sit Down and Shut UP I am working it out. I know the plan. I know just WHEN we will be there, just when it will all take place, how the whole thing will go down." They just don't SEE the whole picture yet.

How often is it like that with the Lord? We ask and ask and ask for things and we try to trust Him, but we struggle. We can't see the whole picture. We don't see how HE can possibly work it out for us.

The Israelites, as they fled Egypt, struggled with the same thing. Even after the Lord had inflicted the 10 plagues on Egypt ~ the locusts, the water turning into blood, the frogs (that one would have really gotten to me, I am not a fan of frogs) and even killing the first born sons of the Egyptians, the Israelites still began to fear again. Grumbling, whining, begging, pleading...Here was the big huge Red Sea in front of them, and the Egyptians were rapidly on their heels. How were they going to get out of this mess? Didn't matter that they had just witnessed their release from slavery. They couldn't figure out how to get out of THIS mess.

In Exodus 14:14 it says: "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still". The Israelites had forgotten that THEY hadn't done anything to get there in the first place, but it was the Lord fighting for them that had saved them. They just had to be still. STILL!!! I looked up what the word STILL means in this passage and in its most literal form it means to "Sit down and shut-up" or in a bit nicer way.."be mute and silent".

I know I struggle with asking and asking AND ASKING for things to happen, for the Lord to move on our behalf or fretting and stressing about the same things over and over again. I don't trust God and I don't trust His plan. Even when He has proven Himself faithful to me over and over again, I still grumble, complain and whine when I don't see how He is going to work on my behalf THIS TIME. I see that HUGE body of water before me, and can't imagine how I am going to get to the other side. I am sure God is saying. "I will fight for you, Kim. You need only to be still!"

How incredible and awesome that we have such a loving God who wants to fight for us and IS fighting for us. We just need to sit down and shut-up and LET HIM!!!!!