Posted on: 29th April 2025

There is a verse in Exodus 14:14 that is a favourite of mine: ‘The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.’ This is a truth – God does fight on our behalf, and we can find similar verses elsewhere in the Bible, for example, Deuteronomy 3:22 or 2 Chronicles 20:17.

However, when we look at this verse in context, stillness was not something that God required of the Israelites at that time.

In the following verse, God says: ‘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)

A beautiful statement from Moses wasn’t met with agreement from heaven because it wasn’t spoken at the right time. What God required of the Israelites at that moment was movement!

God was already fighting for them and was ready to hold back the sea and create a safe path for them. The Israelites needed to partner with what God was asking of them in order to see the miracle. This wasn’t a time for waiting on God and crying out to Him, but it was a time to step out.

I believe we, as the church, are at a similar moment. Now is a time to move.

Please don’t hear me wrong. I love to sit and be still in the presence of the Lord. Prayer and meditation on Jesus is so important, and I always want this practice to be a part of my life.

However, for us as a whole, this isn’t a time just to be still and cry out to God. This is a time to believe that God is with us and step out in faith.

We’ve seen lots of encouraging news reports about a quiet revival and increasing Bible sales in the UK. I’ve heard countless stories of people coming to faith, particularly young people. We don’t need to wait to hear more of these stories before we can begin to move as part of the story.

Don’t wait for something big and flashy to happen before you take a step. Don’t think that you need to have a big and flashy idea before you can act. Take a small step today and see something big as a result. What is your unique assignment?

By Mary Swain, author of the 40 Days Devotionals series.