5.11.2017

THROUGH the sea


If you find yourself facing a "Red Sea" trouble today and you can’t see a way out, I’d like to encourage you--God's way of deliverance is often THROUGH the sea.

You may remember the Bible story in Exodus 14. Moses had been sent by God to deliver His people from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. Through a series of warnings and disastrous plagues, the pharaoh finally agreed to let them go.

They left, led by the Lord for a land of promise and goodness. But after three days, they came to a seemingly impossible barrier: the Red Sea. To make matters worse, the pharaoh had changed his mind and was thundering across the desert after them with his entire army of chariots and armed soldiers.

You can imagine the terror that pounded in the hearts of the Israelites. There was no way out--either forward or backward.  (Ever feel that way?)

Then God moved! He commanded a fierce wind to blow all night, pushing the water back in a path across the entire sea. Picture it--a wall of water on either side, dry land on the bottom. Then He set a cloud of fire behind His people, preventing the army from coming near them.

In the morning, He commanded them to cross through the sea to the other side.

Again, consider their options:  go forward and possibly drown, or stay and be annihilated by the army. But urged to take the bold step of faith, down they went into the dry seabed--and every last one of them made it safely to the other side.

God then removed the wall of fire, and the whole army charged after the people. But what was the Israelites' way of deliverance became the army's death sentence. God released the walls of water and the whole army was drowned.

Encouragement to us


If we can pull back a bit and see God's way in this story, it can change our fear and desperation to confidence and peace in Him.

The key is to remember…

  • God had promised to deliver them and take them to a place of blessing and peace.
  • His way was THROUGH the sea, not around it.
  • This plan was not only to deliver, but to use the seeming disaster to end the threat of destruction forever.
  • The people did not have to DO anything in their own deliverance except to trust God's Word and obey it. He did the work, He got the glory.

Whatever you're going through, take heart! Remember that the Word says God never changes. He loves you. He knows all about your problem. He is good and has a wonderful plan of blessing in mind for you. Don't be alarmed if you see a Red Sea before you and enemies chasing you from behind. Trust Him, obey what He tells you to do, and watch Him do a wondrous work for you! He will see you through safely through to the other side.

Bible study:  Exodus 14, Hebrews 13:8, I Peter 5:6-7, Isaiah 43:2, Romans 15:5

1 comment:

  1. Such a good reminder. It's easy to forget that God's ways are so much higher and better than anything we can comprehend.

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