Last time, we
congratulated ourselves if we were between a rock and a hard place because God
intentionally leads us to Red Sea moments in our wilderness seasons so that we
can trust Him more. We learned our Red Sea moments help us keep our eyes on God,
but there is more. When the Israelites took their eyes off God, they focused on
what was behind them. In Exodus 14:11-12, we see one of these moments, “They
said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought
us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians?’ It
would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’”
Sadly, this is the beginning of a disappointing pattern of behavior from
the Nation of Israel on their journey from Egypt to the Promise Land. When
things were going well, they usually trusted God, but when a trial or problem
came, they began grumbling and asking to go back to Egypt.
It’s hard to wrap our heads around their behavior, after all, they had Joseph’s coffin, a reminder of God’s faithfulness, plus the gold, silver, and other valuables the Egyptians had given them. BUT, before we judge them, we would be wise to search our hearts. How much discomfort and disappointment does it take to make us stop trusting God? What is our trust tolerance? How many problems are we willing to go through before we stop trusting God?
When the Israelites were freaking out and panicking because they took their eyes off God, Moses told them what they needed to do in Exodus 14:13-14, “Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.’” He began with this, “Don’t be afraid.” Why? Faith and fear cannot live in the same heart because one will eventually destroy the other. God wants to bless us through our faith, but the enemy wants to destroy us through our fear. Fear leads to unbelief and makes us forget God’s faithfulness.
Next Moses told them, “Stand firm.” He means we need to hold on to our confidence in God and His Word! When we believe God’s Word, we allow it to work (Isaiah 55:11). Our Red Sea moment is always an opportunity for the Word of God to work but we have to stand firm and not run away. Interestingly, Moses also told them, “Be still.” We have to settle down and trust God is going to work it all out. We cannot be frantic, trying to come up with our own solution because “somebody had to do something.” In our Red Sea moments, we have to “be still” and trust God as we let Him work. May we be people who experience breakthrough because we have the ability to be still and trust God when problems and troubles arise!
It’s hard to wrap our heads around their behavior, after all, they had Joseph’s coffin, a reminder of God’s faithfulness, plus the gold, silver, and other valuables the Egyptians had given them. BUT, before we judge them, we would be wise to search our hearts. How much discomfort and disappointment does it take to make us stop trusting God? What is our trust tolerance? How many problems are we willing to go through before we stop trusting God?
When the Israelites were freaking out and panicking because they took their eyes off God, Moses told them what they needed to do in Exodus 14:13-14, “Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.’” He began with this, “Don’t be afraid.” Why? Faith and fear cannot live in the same heart because one will eventually destroy the other. God wants to bless us through our faith, but the enemy wants to destroy us through our fear. Fear leads to unbelief and makes us forget God’s faithfulness.
Next Moses told them, “Stand firm.” He means we need to hold on to our confidence in God and His Word! When we believe God’s Word, we allow it to work (Isaiah 55:11). Our Red Sea moment is always an opportunity for the Word of God to work but we have to stand firm and not run away. Interestingly, Moses also told them, “Be still.” We have to settle down and trust God is going to work it all out. We cannot be frantic, trying to come up with our own solution because “somebody had to do something.” In our Red Sea moments, we have to “be still” and trust God as we let Him work. May we be people who experience breakthrough because we have the ability to be still and trust God when problems and troubles arise!