"And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant" (Ex. 14:31).

When many sports player, they study about the sport, learn how to play the sport, and memorize the analogies. [Illustration of Alpine Ski]

However, there would be a moment you've gotten frustrated because you can't make your body do your analogies; you're thinking of too many things at once.Then. Suddenly. "Ahhhh…moment" maybe it's making a nice turn, or recovering (without falling) from going too fast, or simply making a good stop. Something clicked between mind and body. This click can be summed up in a word: trust.

You may not realize it, but in that moment, you trusted your learning, your skis and your legs to do what you were telling them to do. You let go of your instructions and analogies.

In our Christian life, as we seek to grow in our relationship with Him, we have three things that we have to remember. 

1. We can start trusting God when we have fear of the Lord.

At the time of Exodus, Israel people wanted to be free from Egypt and Moses had delivered them from the dry land to the promise land. After the  Red Sea, God has given the judgement to the Egyptian and their dead bodies were floating ashore. Probably, most of Israel people had not only experienced the crossing the red sea, but also seen the dead bodies and had feared the Lord. But same time, they have trusted the Lord. 

If we don't have fear of the Lord, and don't see the mighty works that God is doing in our lives, what we know and what we do will be end up as just knowledge. The fear of the Lord is coming based on the experiences. Israel people saw the work of the Lord for them against Egyptians. Today, we might not see this miraculous event in our days, however, God reveals His work and power by the Holy Spirit. Then, we see God's work and experience Holy Spirit. Fearing the Lord is not "be scared by", it is "obedient and listening to". Where is your fear at? Let's fear the Lord and trust the Lord.

2. Let it go

at the movie "Let it go", Ellsa tried to control her power but when she ran away, she could let her power go because there was no one.   The pharaoh tried to chase after the Israelites after he told them to leave because he still wanted to have control over them.

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God" (Ps. 20:7).

Chariots and horses represents the power and the earthly leadership. Many times we are trying to solve and go through these moments with the experiences that we have and the knowledge that we learned. But there will be the moment that you have to “Let it go”. We often want to control all things around us or the things happening. Because of lingering desire that we have, it darkens and covers our eyes and heart, just like Pharao in Egypt. 

We have to let it go in the Lord

• fears (what kinds of?)

• mistakes made (or mistakes that still making)

• hurts (by family members? by friends?)

• giving grace to others (Why do I have to?)

• accepting grace yourself

• healing from loss 

• life decisions (job, career, college)

• relationship decisions

• temptations (what is the temptation that you are dealing right now and try to solve it?)

"Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal" (Isa. 26:4).

What are you holding on your hand?

3. God will replace the emptiness with joy and peace.

[Illustration: Packing bookbag and forgot to put the most important thing, in order to put it into the bag, we have to take things out and make space for the important thing]

When we give up the control and on things that we hold onto, there will be emptiness in our heart. But, God promised that..

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 15:13)"

Joy relates to the delight of anticipation in seeing one’s hopes fulfilled. Peace results from the assurance that God will fulfill those hopes . These are experienced as believers trust in Him . As a result believers overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Take a step of trust to allow God to do what He loves to do: heal, redeem, give grace, strengthen. Accept the kindness and generosity of God, and let Him do the work.