Do not be anxious about anything!

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad. (Proverbs 12:25)

Soon after God led Israel out of four centuries of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:40–41), He instructed them to set up camp at Pi-hahiroth and Baal-zephon, between Migdol and the Red Sea. It was God’s intention to cause Pharaoh to assume the Israelites were wandering aimlessly in the wilderness. Of course, Pharaoh took the bait and pursued Israel, taking with him horsemen, his army, and over six hundred chariots (Exodus 14:1–9).

When Israel saw the warriors of Egypt, they became very frightened. They complained to Moses and said; “Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14:10–12). These chosen people of God became anxious about their current setback. Instead of putting their faith in the power of God, they submitted in fear to a situation they thought was hopeless.

What did Moses do? He gave the Israelites a command, “Do not fear!” He further said, “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” God then asked Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.” When Moses and the Israelites obeyed God, they witnessed a great victory. God drowned all the pursuing Egyptian warriors in the Red Sea and Israel did not see them again. After witnessing this great victory, Moses and Israel sang a song to the Lord (Exodus 14:13–31; 15:1–21).

We are sometimes guilty of this same behavior. We go along in life without a care, but when a big problem appears, we submit to anxiety. Our first response might be to wonder, “Why is this happening to me?” or “if I was back in my previous situation then things would be better.” The apostle Paul said “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6 ESV). We would be better off if we would heed Paul’s advice.