"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your path."
Proverbs 3:5-6
Taking those steps of faith and trusting in his sovereignty is not always easy. Quite often he calls us to do hard things rather than easy ones. Sometimes He'll ask me to do something that doesn't make sense in my human mind; and with all that's within me I want to run away from what He's asking me to do. At times, I find myself shying away from the difficult things. This is because, as a human, I cannot predict the future effects of my actions, and fear of the unknown can have the tendency to cripple me. Far too often, I forget that our God is sovereign and He sees the whole picture: past, present and future. He holds the entire world in His hands, of course He is going to hold me too.
"We have this hope as an anchor for our souls, firm and secure!"
Hebrews 6:19
My dear child,
Do not fear,
For I am with you;
Do not be dismayed,
For I am your God!
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand!
(Isaiah 41:10)
My dear child,
Do not fear,
For I am with you;
Do not be dismayed,
For I am your God!
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand!
(Isaiah 41:10)
It feels like God has led me to a dead end, or like the Israelites, to the vast Red Sea. The Israelites couldn't make sense of why God had brought them to a dead end, they didn't understand at the time why they had come to this seemingly impossible obstacle in their escape from the Egyptians. Wasn't God doing a good thing in freeing them? Hadn't He said that He would surely come to their aid? What now? Were they brought out of Egypt only to die in the desert..? But the Israelites had forgotten that the Lord was with them always. He had never left them and was faithfully walking alongside them in their journey to the Red Sea. In Exodus 13:22 it says, "Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people." You see, God is not only with us in times of trouble, when He asks us to do what seems illogical in our own eyes, He goes before us in these difficult times. The Lord never left them and was always in front of them, leading, guiding, and directing them to where they should go. It was a lack of trust when the Israelites finally reached the edge of the Red Sea, a seemingly "dead end," that they were overtaken by fear.
"Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today...The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."
Exodus 14:13-14
The Red Sea was not the end of the road. But in the Israelite's doubting mind, it was. They immediately forgot God's faithfulness and how He had been with them and had gone before them. He never left them. The Israelites forgot that God was delivering them. In the midst of fear and a seemingly "dead end," they began to doubt God's power and sovereignty over the situation. They could have never imagined what would happen next. God called Moses to take a leap of faith, he told him "to raise up his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites could go through the sea on dry ground."
...What?
This seems almost humorous. Moses must have at least chuckled to himself when the Lord told him to do this. "Seriously, Lord? You want me to do what?! Do You know the kind of ridicule I'll get for this if nothing happens?" But Moses took that step of faith and risked the consequences - whether positive or negative. The Lord decided to blow everyone's minds. He likes to do that...
After the Israelites got all of their complaints and fears out in the open and expressed their frustration in not understanding how God had led them to this dead end in their treck to freedom, God blew their minds. As Moses took a leap of faith and raised his staff to the Red Sea, the ground started to shake, the waters started to jossel, and all of a sudden the vast waters began to part. Two walls of water shot up on both sides of the path, fish and creatures of the deep swam throughout the walls as the people hesitently walked through and looked about in awe. They must have felt foolish for complaining about God's provision and faithfulness as they walked through the Sea. To top it off, the angel of God went behind the Israelites so that when the Egyptians came after the Israelites, God stood between them. He allowed the Israelites to safely cross through to the other side and He mercilessly swept the Egyptians into the heart of the sea, and "not one of them survived!" (Exodus 14:28)
MY GOD IS FAITHFUL! Even when I feel like He has brought me to what seems like a dead end, I must remember that sometimes he brings His children to these seemingly impossible obstacles so that He can reveal His glory. The Isrealites didn't understand why God had brought them to this stand still in their journey. In fact, they expressed their lack of trust by complaining, becoming anxious and worrying about their near futures. They didn't trust in the One who had proven Himself faithful to them over and over again...
The Lord commanded them:
Do not be afraid
Stand firm
You will see the deliverance that I will bring you today
I will fight for you
You need only to be still.
(Exodus 14:13-14)
So as I'm looking out at this vast sea of water that seems to be impossible to cross, I mustn't forget how the Lord has constantly been faithful. He has brought me to this place to show me what happens when I listen to His voice, follow Him to the Red Sea, lean not on my own understanding, and wait patiently for Him. I believe that He will show me His glory. But until then, I will rest in His promises; that when I trust in Him with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding, acknowledging him in all my ways, he will direct my path!!
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."
Proverbs 16:9
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