165 | Stand Still And See: Trusting God When There's Nowhere Left to Run (Exodus Bible Study 1)

Find the full episode here: LivingOnPurposeInChrist.com/blog and the companion printable resource here): PaulaBehrens.com/store

If you’ve been praying for change and nothing is moving, Exodus offers a steadier truth than quick fixes: God is working before you can see it. In part one of this four-part Bible study series through the book of Exodus, we begin where so many of us live: in the stuck place. When Israel groans under oppression, Scripture gives us four powerful reminders that reframe waiting: God heard, remembered, looked, and knew. Even when your circumstances feel frozen and your emotions feel heavy, heaven is not still.

We also follow Moses from anonymity to calling, and we talk honestly about the fears and feelings that surface when God asks you to step out. Moses questions his worth, his ability, and his words, and God answers by revealing His own name and presence. Along the way, this episode offers biblical encouragement for those moments when obedience feels costly and uncertain.

Then we zoom out to the plagues as more than ancient drama: a direct confrontation between the one true God and the false gods people trust when they’re afraid. And yes, we name the part nobody wants to admit: sometimes the promise shows up and life gets harder before it gets better.

From Passover to the Red Sea, we trace the rescue thread that points to Jesus. We linger on hyssop, the small plant used to apply the blood in Exodus, echoed in Psalm 51’s prayer for cleansing and appearing again at the cross. We also unpack the meaning of salvation as being pulled from a tight place into wide open space, and why “stand still” can be one of the bravest acts of faith.

If you love Bible study, devotions, and Spirit-led conversations about faith, emotions, and aroma freedom, this episode will meet you with truth and hope. And if you are someone who also appreciates gentle tools like essential oils as part of creating sacred space with God, you’ll find this conversation especially meaningful.

If you want to go deeper, grab the printable companion Bible study. And if this message meets you right where you are, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find hope.

><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>

YOUR NEXT STEP:

*Accept Jesus into your heart*

Also available: 

Aroma of Christ Coaching Hour: PaulaBehrens.com/coaching1

The Story of Oils in Scripture | Class: PaulaBehrens.com/oils-in-scripture

Healing Oils of the Bible | Course: PaulaBehrens.com/healing-oils 

Weekly Biblical Encouragement Tips: PaulaBehrens.com/insider-list

Free Revelation (Part 1) printable study: PaulaBehrens.com/free-revelation-1

Bold Faith Bundle for new Christians | Printables: PaulaBehrens.com/bold-faith

In the Word — 24 free messages:  PaulaBehrens.com/in-the-word

Free 15-Minute Discovery Consult: PaulaBehrens.com/#discoverycall

Faith Membership Club | Through-the-Bible: PaulaBehrens.com/bible

The Store: PaulaBehrens.com/store

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Launching Exodus For The Stuck

Paula Behrens 0:00

Hey friend, welcome back to Living on Purpose in Christ. I'm Paula, and today we are kicking off a brand new series that I have honestly been excited about for weeks. We're starting a four-part walk through the book of Exodus. Before we get going, quick heads up. There's a full printable Bible study to go along with this series that goes so much deeper than we've got time for today, leader's guide and all. I'll circle back and tell you more about it at the end, so don't wander off before then. But first, let's talk about being stuck. Not the fun kind of stuck, like stuck in a good book. I mean the kind where you have prayed and you have believed and you have done everything right that you know how to do, and the situation has not budged one single inch. If that's you today, I have wonderful news. Exodus is basically written with your name on it. In a world that often celebrates the loud and visible, it's easy to feel as though your quiet acts of devotion go unnoticed. Yet Scripture assures us that God sees every hidden moment of faithfulness and he uses them to weave his redemptive story in ways we may never fully comprehend. If you're navigating past wounds, finding it challenging to practice grace and difficult relationships, or longing to see how God can use your seemingly small steps to create meaningful change, this podcast is for you.

Aroma Freedom And Review Request

Paula Behrens 1:40

Friend, have you ever carved out time for prayer and Scripture, longing for quiet renewal with the Lord, only to feel your thoughts spinning from endless demands, your energy depleted, or your soul parched? I recall a season when my days felt more like constant striving than sacred rest. I had a prayer journal, a quiet chair by the window, and a heart set on seeking Him. But truthfully, I was running on empty and close to burnout. I longed for deeper peace, steadier rhythms, and a heartfelt connection with God. I kept showing up, yet the soul deep rest I needed stayed out of reach. Then the Lord gently reminded me, He never required perfect plans or endless effort. He simply wanted my presence. From that place, I began looking for gentler ways to abide with him. I discovered that pairing a natural scent with releasing emotional triggers and limiting beliefs opened something sacred. That shift is what I now share in the aroma freedom coaching session. Whether you feel spiritually drained, weighed down by old patterns, or hungry for that closeness to the Holy Spirit, this session invites you to release what blocks your peace. Together, we use aroma, scripture, and a gentle guided technique to restore your sense of wholeness so you can feel grounded, nourished, and rooted in God's presence. You don't have to figure it out alone. There's a gentle path to releasing old patterns, finding emotional freedom, and drawing closer to God, and I would be honored to walk it with you. Now is the time to breathe in his peace and let go of what is keeping you stuck or holding you back. Book an aroma freedom coaching session at PaulaBehrens.com /coaching. That's Paula Behrens B-E-H R E N S .com /coaching (no spaces). Before we dive in, I have a quick favor to ask. If this podcast has been a blessing to you or helped you grow in your walk with Christ, would you take a moment to leave a review? Thank you so much. I truly appreciate your support. Okay, it's time to get started. Grab your Bible and a cup of coffee and let's dive in.

Israel’s Oppression And God’s Four Verbs

Paula Behrens 3:43

So, Exodus opens up and things are not going great for our people. Let me paint a picture for you. Israel had gone down into Egypt as this one little family, Jacob and his sons, and a few generations later they've multiplied into an enormous nation. And a new king shows up who has apparently never read a history book because he doesn't remember Joseph or anything Joseph's family did for Egypt. All he sees is a big group of people he's suddenly scared of. So he does the classic move of every insecure ruler in history. He panics and he crushes them. Brutal labor, harsh taskmasters, and then this horrifying order to kill the Hebrew baby boys. Right in the middle of that mess, a baby gets hidden in a basket, floats down the Nile, and gets scooped up by, of all people, Pharaoh's own daughter. The baby is Moses, and you would think his rescue story takes off from there. It does not. Moses grows up in the palace, makes one seriously bad decision, defending a fellow Hebrew, and ends up running for his life into the middle of nowhere. He becomes a shepherd, he gets married, and forty years go by. Forty. Years. Of what had to feel like complete silence from heaven. And then comes the verse I want you to really sit with. After all that waiting, Scripture says, Israel groaned, and they cried out, and their cry came up to God, and God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant, and God looked at them, and God knew them. Four verbs back to back. God heard, remembered, looked, and knew, even before anything had actually changed down on the ground. You see, Pharaoh was still on the throne. The slavery hadn't lifted a bit. But here's the thing, something had shifted in heaven. And here's what this means for us today. If you've been waiting for something to change, but your circumstances haven't moved an inch, remember that God hears, remembers, looks, and knows. And even though you may be experiencing silence, that is not the same thing as absence.

The Burning Bush And Moses’ Doubts

Paula Behrens 6:06

Meanwhile, out in the middle of nowhere, Moses is just doing his job, tending his father-in-law's sheep on what was probably a totally remarkable Tuesday. And out of the corner of his eye, he notices this bush that is on fire, but somehow never actually burns up. Naturally, he wanders over to get a closer look, because who wouldn't? And that's when God speaks right out of the fire and tells him to take his sandals off, because the ground under his feet just became holy. I love this part so much because this is exactly how God tends to operate. He doesn't usually show up in a throne room with trumpets blasting, he shows up in a field, in the middle of a completely ordinary chore, to a man who has spent four decades quietly assuming his best days are behind him. And when God tells Moses he's the one who's going to march into Pharaoh's palace and lead an entire enslaved nation to freedom, Moses responds the way most of us would. He argues, Who am I for this? What if they don't believe me? I'm not a good speaker. Send somebody else, anybody else. And God never really answers Moses' questions. Instead, he tells him who he is. He gives Moses his covenant name. "I Am," the eternally self-existing God, who doesn't need for Moses' resume to be impressive, because the whole plan was never resting on him in the first place.

Plagues And The Fight Gets Harder

Paula Behrens 7:40

Next comes the showdown with Pharaoh. And I want you to see this as something bigger than a political standoff. You see, Egypt worshipped an entire lineup of gods tied to the Nile, the sun, the crops, even the frogs and the bugs, believe it or not. And one by one, the plagues systematically take a wrecking ball to confidence in every single one of them. This wasn't random chaos. It was a head-on collision between the one true God and every false god Egypt had ever bowed down to. And it proved, plague after plague, exactly who's actually in charge of the universe. And here's the part nobody likes to talk about. Before it gets better, it gets worse. The very first time Moses shows up with God's promise of deliverance, Pharaoh responds by cranking up the workload, making the Israelites gather their own straw while keeping the same brick quota. Their suffering got heavier the moment the promise showed up, not lighter. So if you've ever stepped out in faith only to watch things get harder before they got better, congratulations, you are in extremely good company. You see, a promise followed by a harder season isn't proof God bailed on the plan. Sometimes it's just proof that a real fight is underway, and real fights don't get won without some resistance.

Passover And The Hyssop Thread

Paula Behrens 9:07

All of this builds to the tenth and final plague, and this is where God finally gives Israel something actually to do. He institutes the Passover. A lamb, spotless, killed at twilight, its blood painted onto the door frames of every Israelite home. And here's a little detail I don't want you to breeze right past. The instrument God specifies for applying that blood isn't a paintbrush, it's a branch of hyssop, that humble, fragrant little plant, dipped into a basin of blood and used to mark the top and sides of the doorframe. Now stay with me, because that same little plant keeps showing up all through scripture in ways that genuinely give me chills once you start noticing them. In Psalm 51, when David is completely undone over his own sin and begging God for a clean heart, he prays, Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Same plant, same picture, tied to grace, applied by hyssop. And then, centuries later, at the cross, John's Gospel tells us that when Jesus said, I thirst, the soldier soaked a sponge in sour wine and lifted it to his lips on a branch of hyssop. Of every plant that could have been sitting around Golgotha that day, it's hyssop that shows up one last time, right at the foot of the very sacrifice that every earlier use of hyssop had been quietly pointing toward the whole time.

Word Study | Hebrew 'ēzôḇ (אֵזוֹב) And Greek Hyssōpos (ὕσσωπος)

Paula Behrens 10:36

And here's a little detail I love for those of you who enjoy plants as much as I do. The Hebrew word for hyssop is 'ēzôḇ (אֵזוֹב). And when Jewish scholars translated the Old Testament into Greek in the Septuagint, they rendered that word as hyssōpos (ὕσσωπος), the very same Greek word John uses in his Gospel when hyssop shows up again at the cross, same plant, same word, carried all the way from a door frame in Egypt to a hill outside of Jerusalem. It was small, unassuming, wonderfully fragrant, and used again and again throughout scripture for cleansing and consecration. I'll be honest, whenever I diffuse hyssop, essential oil now, I think about all of this. This tiny humble plant that God chose over and over across a thousand years of scripture can carry the reminder that his blood, his cleansing, is there for a thirsty world.

Salvation At The Sea | Sōtērios (σωτήριος)

Paula Behrens 11:36

Okay, so Pharaoh finally lets Israel go, but almost immediately changes his mind and sends his entire army after them. Now Israel is standing there with the sea in front of them and an army closing in behind them, which is, generously speaking, not an ideal spot to be in. And in the middle of all that panic, Moses says something that still amazes me. He tells a terrified crowd of people to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Let's slow down on that word salvation, because there's something really beautiful tucked inside it. The Hebrew word behind the word salvation carries a picture of being pulled out of a tight, cramped, hopeless spot and set down in a wide open space. It's also the root behind the name Yēšûaʿ(יֵשׁוּעַ) in Hebrew, which simply means "YHWH saves." So later on, when an angel tells Joseph in the New Testament to name the baby Jesus because he will save his people, that name is quietly echoing all the way back to this moment at the edge of the sea. And here's what I find most interesting. Salvation in this scene didn't look like Israel fighting their way out or coming up with some clever escape plan. It looked like standing still, terrified, while God did the one thing only God can do, save them. When Jewish scholars later translated the Old Testament into Greek, they took that same word, Yēšûaʿ(יֵשׁוּעַ), and rendered it sōtērios (σωτήριος). And that is the word the New Testament writers reach for again and again when they talk about salvation. When old Simeon holds the baby Jesus in the temple in Luke chapter 2 and says his eyes have finally seen God's salvation, he's using that very same word, tying the rescue at the Red Sea and the rescue through Christ into one long, unbroken story of a God who saves his people when they cannot save themselves. The sea splits open, Israel crosses on completely dry ground, the pursuing army does not fare so well, though. And on the far side, Moses and the people break into song, celebrating a God who is their strength, their song, and their salvation.

Stand Still Takeaways And Resources

Paula Behrens 13:59

So here's what I want you to walk away with today. If you feel boxed in right now, hemmed in on every side with no visible exit, you are standing in the same spot Israel stood in at the edge of that sea. And the instruction is the same one they got. Stand still, not because nothing is happening, but because absolutely everything is happening on a scale you can't see yet from where you're standing. Okay, if today's episode landed with you, come and go deeper with me. Head on over to PaulaBehrens.com/store, and under the "Printable Resources," you'll find the full companion Bible study for this episode, Part 1 of our four-part Exodus series. Inside you'll find the key passages laid out, the theological truths tucked into this section, what this passage reveals about God's own character, practical application for your everyday life, the same word study explored in even more depth, reflection questions, journaling prompts to help you process what God might be saying to you right now, and a complete step-by-step leader's guide if you want to walk your small group, your Bible study, or even just a friend through this series. So head on over now to Paula Behrens B E H R E N S .com /store and look for Exodus (Part 1) in the "Printable Resources" section.

Closing Thoughts and Next Steps

Paula Behrens 15:22

Thank you for tuning in today. And remember, just like setting biblical boundaries, it's okay to say no to things that don't serve you well, like that third piece of cake at the church potluck. If you were blessed by this episode, be sure to share it with a friend and leave a review so that we can reach even more listeners like you. Check the show notes for all the links. Join us next week as we continue to discover how to live on purpose in Christ. Until then, keep leaning into Him and walking in His Wisdom. See you next time.