Read Exodus 14:16,21-22. What happened before the Red Sea parted?
“Moses raised his staff and stretched out his hand.”
Read Joshua 3:8,14-17. What happened just before the water parted?
If you were one of those priests, how do you think you would have felt about stepping into the rushing water?
“nervous, uncertain”
When you are governed by feelings, how hard is it for you to take steps of perseverance? Explain.
“It is very hard; it feels much too difficult and scary to begin.”
Is there an area of your life where you know you need to “take a step?” If so, write your commitment.
I will “make several phone calls about my health and the house’s ‘health,’ and I will check my email and answer a few.”
Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble.
How do you determine your true identity?
“from God”
What “I am” statement do you most need to say to your soul today? I am “confident and capable.”
What sends you into an emotional “fight or flight” mode?
“Sudden changes in a day’s schedule and plan or even a hurriedness to begin the day (i.e., to leave the house for the whole day)”
Turn to Exodus 14:13-14. What did Moses command? “Stand still”
Is God telling you to stand still?
“Only as opposed to sit back and relax.”
If so, what could be accomplished by your stillness before Him?
“I would probably better hear His will for any given moment.”
Now read Exodus 14:15-16. What did the Lord say to Moses? ‘Tell the Israelites to “move on”’
Do you need to march on through your fight or fright situation?
“Yes, in cleaning up around here, too.”
If you did persevere, what could be the result?
“I could have a house I wouldn’t be embarrassed to have people see.”
What do the following verses tell you about the importance of rest?
Exodus 23:10-11 – “Even dirt, vines and trees need a rest every few years.”
Exodus 34:21 – “The body needs a day off every week.”
Leviticus 23:3 – “God took the seventh day off, so we should, too.”
Triumph is just trying with a little ‘umph!’
But let’s be practical. What do we do when we feel overwhelmed and ready to quit?
“Pray, and then begin doing it anyway.”
Dearest Rachel –
Since each of these weekly chapters I’ve been going through were put together by you over the course of days (or, if you had procrastinated sufficiently in the days before, all on the same day for a given section of chapters) rather than weeks, it stands to reason that your answers would often touch on the same topics from chapter to chapter. And the fact that the author describes one’s in her life as one’s ‘thought closet’ can’t do you any favors in avoiding the topic of your messy house. But it does leave me feeling bad for you, as you would agonize to yourself about the situation, and about how difficult it was to begin the Herculean task of dealing with your own personal Augean stable.
Then again, this is just a sort of thing that grants me absolution for the work that I wound up doing in your absence that I still to this day think you would’ve objected strenuously to. I just wish I could grant you the same thing: to somehow be able to tell you ‘don’t worry about it, honey; I’ve taken care of it.’
Of course, for all that, it’s not like we’ve had anybody over yet, other than the usual group of girls (and Kevin, separately), so we’ve not gotten to that point of enjoying the full fruits of perseverance yet. Still, we’re that much closer, and I wish you could have had the chance to see that.
The interesting thing about today’s topic is how the phrase ‘moving on’ could be taken a bit more literally in my case. Although, it’s a little bit cockeyed, as you’re the one who’s crossed the Jordan, so to speak, leaving me to somehow move on with life beyond you. Ironically, it’s almost as scary sometimes to move on without crossing the river, but it’s not like I have any choice. Life goes on for Daniel and me, and we just have to deal with it as it comes. I just wish that, in the stillness, I could be aware of your approval (to say nothing of God’s) as we made our way haltingly in the direction we assume to be ‘forward.’
In any event, honey, please continue to keep an eye on us, and wish us luck. We’re going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 