Bill Johnson - How to Overcome Fear and Move Forward in Faith
Because the Lord isn’t always looking for great, courageous leaps; He’s looking for movement in the right direction. Does that make sense? Stop trying to be a hero; just move in the right direction. All right, verse 10: When Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Here’s what we’ve got going on: Israel is leaving Egypt, and Pharaoh and his army are coming after them. They turned around in their journey and saw Egypt coming after them, and it says they were very afraid. The wrong kind of fear will drive you away from the lordship of Jesus; the right kind of fear endears you to Him. Complaining is the language of fear; it’s the language of unbelief. Nobody complains who sees God’s role in the middle of their situation. Complaint only happens because we’ve lost sight of who He is and where He is. There are some fears that are natural fears, or can I say responsible fears? Putting your hand on a hot stove—don’t tempt God; that’s stupid. Walking across the floor barefoot with broken glass isn’t a smart idea. Voting for socialism—it’s just not. Just want to make sure you were awake. I’ve been waiting all morning to say that, actually longer than that.
Verse 13: Moses said to the people, «Do not be afraid.» I’m sorry; I don’t have enough time to take many detours, so I’ll just take one, and then this is the last one. I read this post that said when you have a conflict with your wife, just tell her she’s overreacting, and that’ll calm everything down. That’s kind of what I thought of here. Moses comes to Israel, who is terrified, and says, «Don’t be afraid—oh, okay, okay, there’s a good idea. I just won’t be afraid.» But then he comes with the word of the Lord: «Don’t be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.» It just hit me strongly in the Twin View service just a few minutes ago, and I feel the same here now. There are some of you that are facing ongoing problems, and I feel like I’m supposed to declare over you: You will never see those Egyptians in that issue; you’ll never see them again. Today it ends. That will not be a cyclical issue in your life; it ends today. But here’s the word that Moses brought to the nation of Israel: the Egyptians that were trying to kill you, you will never see them again forever.
Okay, moving on, verse 14: The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. Now, verse 15 is important. The Lord said to Moses, «Why do you cry out to Me?» All right, what’s happening here? In verses 13 and 14, Moses is prophesying, «Just stand still; God’s going to deliver you. You’re going to see Him work on your behalf; He’s going to bring you to a place of great peace. Just hold your place.» And in the very next verse, we see God say, «Why are you crying out to Me?» This tells me that after the prophecy, Moses is interceding. He gave this great word from the Lord, and then he’s saying, «Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God, do you see these people that I’m leading? Oh God!» So the Lord says, «Why do you cry out to Me?» Apparently, there was prayer after the prophecy, but what does He say? Verse 15: The Lord said to Moses, «Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.»
Now, if you notice this, there’s a big difference between standing still and going forward. Moses sensed the safety and provision of the Lord. Let me say it’s possible he assumed He would do it while we stand still. The Lord brought one clarification to that prophetic word: I’m going to do it, but I’m going to do it while you’re moving forward. You’re not to stand still. There are sometimes, honestly, when you just take the position of rest, and there are other times when you just move in the right direction. God isn’t usually looking for great courageous leaps in movement; He’s generally looking for just movement in the right direction. We had a staff member years ago who had a very serious head trauma injury. It was very serious, and he couldn’t play with his children anymore. He couldn’t be in the room where there was any kind of—not even an argument, just challenging conversation. There were certain things he couldn’t see on TV because he was so traumatized from the injury to his head. He was actually over there in one Sunday night service, in the restroom, and the Lord just prompted him: «Bump your head against the wall.» That terrified him because that could just send him back to—just to bump his head against the wall. He said, «Lord, I can’t do that.» Then what he did was lean his head softly against the wall, instantly healed, completely healed of all the trauma he had suffered for so long. Because the Lord isn’t always looking for great, courageous leaps; He’s looking for movement in the right direction. Does that make sense? Stop trying to be a hero; just move in the right direction.
So He says, «Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.» We move on down through this story, and the Lord begins to reveal Himself as being with the children of Israel on this journey. I like this story; I like it a lot. It says in verse 19—excuse me, verse 18: «The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.» The angel of God who went before the camp of Israel moved and went behind them. This is interesting; God’s in front of them, showing them where to go, and He’s behind them, protecting them from the Egyptians. Right? The angel of God who went before the camp moved and went behind them, and the pillar of the cloud went before them and stood behind them.
Remember, He went between the camp and the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus, it was a cloud of darkness to one and gave light by night to the other—two manifestations of the same revival: a cloud in one case, fire in another. The same sun that melts the ice hardens the clay. The workings and dealings of God and the effect of those workings and dealings have everything in the world to do with our heart’s condition. The posture, the position of our heart—am I saying, «God, prove it to me,» or am I saying, «No matter what you say, my answer is yes»? Those two positions are extremely different. It’s not a heaven or hell issue; it’s an issue of what measure of Promised Land will I actually experience in my lifetime. We were all born to enter the reality of the fulfilled promises of God over our lives and our family line until it actually brings transformation to culture itself.