Situations in life often cause us to doubt our way out or around the difficulties. But these times are never too hard for God. When we look at the story of the Israelites escaping the Egyptian army, we see an example of God taking care of his people and providing a way. One verse stood out to me in this narrative. Exodus 14:14 (NLT) says “The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” The ESV translates it as “you have only to be silent”. The Message says “And you? You keep your mouths shut!” In other words, we just need to be quiet and let God work.
That is easy, right? We can sit back and be quiet. Probably not…instead we are just like the Israelites. We start whining. How did you let me get in this situation? I do not deserve this. I would have been better off not even trying. It would have been easier to stay where we were. Didn’t you know that Pharaoh would just come chasing after us?
But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” Exodus 14:13-14 (NLT)
God used this miraculous rescue to show Israel (and us) His glory. The chapter concludes with “When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before him. They put their faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses.”
And how did God rescue the Israelites? He let them walk through the Red Sea on dry land. He could have let them wade and swim through the muddy water. He could have provided them some wood to build boats to carry just them over. But instead, he gave them dry ground to walk through with all their belongings protected.
And can you imagine Moses telling them to start walking on this pathway that had walls of water on each side of them? They had to have faith that God was going to hold the water back until they got to the other side.
Likewise today, God provides for us. We must have faith in his miraculous power and know that he will take care of us. It may not always look like we imagine or be the way we would have planned it, but everything is under his control. Trust and obey.