By Benescke Janse van Rensburg

I recently watched an animated film with my 2-year-old daughter. In one of the scenes, two squirrels stood on the beach overlooking the sea. Suddenly a tsunami-sized wave appeared, moving towards the beach. Fear gripped the squirrels as they realized that they might be engulfed.

The reaction of the two squirrels however was very different. The first squirrel panicked and started running around desperately looking for a place to hide. The second squirrel stopped and with a quiet confidence looked at the wave as if he knew something or someone was about to stop it. Then, just as the wave was about to hit the coast, engulfing the squirrels, it froze. From somewhere behind the wave, the water was starting to freeze and the ice reached the wave before it could crash down on the beach.

In our lives it sometimes happens that we too have tsunami-sized waves approaching us, ready to engulf us. It comes in the form of, for example, a wrongful disciplinary hearing in the workplace, an impending divorce, financial loss or perhaps bad news about your health. With the threat that we might be engulfed, we too, like the squirrels, have a choice to either panic while running around desperately looking for a way out, or we can, as the second squirrel, discuss the matter with God and with confidence and faith wait on the beach, allowing Him to fight on our behalf.

The latter is what the Israelites did. In Exodus 14 we read that they found themselves in a situation where the sea was in front of them and the dreaded Egyptians behind them. Listen to Moses’ words in verse 13-14: "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." In Deuteronomy 20:4 we read: “For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory." And in 2 Chronicles 20:17 a superior army threatened to engulf Judah. Again, God commanded the people: “You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you.”

When we realize that a situation is beyond our control and we call upon our God, the Creator of the universe, with a pure heart, we can know that He is fighting on our behalf. The wave might still come, but so too the ice. The answer and breakthrough may be much closer than you think. Keep your eyes on Him. God bless.

Father God, thank you that I can know that You hear every prayer I pray and that You know my future too. Please help me to keep my eyes on you, knowing that your arm is not too short to help, and you ear not too deaf to hear (Isaiah 59: 1). I ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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