Exodus 14-16

January 22

Exodus 14-16

Have you ever felt like you were trapped between a rock and a hard spot? How panic stricken do you think the Israelites were camped along the Red Sea and here come the Egyptians. In Exodus 14:8 the Israelites were “marching out boldly.” By verse 10, “they were terrified”. Moses said; “do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance The Lord will bring you today.” These words are a lot easier to read as we sit back reading our bibles than it is to live it when you have the impassable sea on one side and the most powerful army in the world on the other. It is easy to see why they were terrified. They were in a bad place and saw no way out.

The Israelites were about to get a lesson in God’s character. God does not lead us out into the desert only to abandon us. He does not lead us out of slavery just to watch us fail. If we walk with him, He will stay with us he will protect us, He will deliver us. The presence of God in the cloud by day and fire by night moved behind the Israelites and separated the two groups. God had Israel’s back.

Just as God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, He will deliver us from the sin that holds us captive. Sometimes when we are right on the edge of deliverance, when we get to the edge of breaking free from whatever it is that holds us back, we get scared. We look around and we don’t see any way out. We panic and go right back to our old way of living. It may not be right, but we are comfortable there.

The only way out is perseverance in the direction God is leading us. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (Hebrews 12:1, NIV) God goes with us, but we have to keep going. Just as He took the through the Red Sea, He often takes us through out problems instead of around them.

 

When you feel like you are backed up and have no way out, you can focus on your problem or you can focus on your God. He is able to do more than you can even imagine.