EXODUS 14:10-14 – “When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.””
THEME OF THE DAY: WHEN THERE IS NO PLACE TO GO. Today’s account of God’s people of old leaving Egypt is intense. They left, arrived at the shore of the Red Sea, looked over their shoulders and saw a cloud of dust on the horizon. It wasn’t a dust storm, but it was a storm. Pharaoh changed his mind, and in anger came after the Israelites. This wasn’t a going away party, but a gathering party to bring them back under his bondage.
The people cried out to the Lord in fear, complained to Moses that they should have never left Egypt, and was convinced death was certain. What a helpless situation! Ahead of them was the Red Sea, and they had no bridge and no ferry. Behind them was the Egyptian army led by a very upset and ungodly Pharoah. Hopelessness gripped them. If ever a time existed for a people to really know they were in control of no one or no circumstance, it was then.
We will have similar moments in our lives. Obviously, no Egyptians coming behind us or Red Sea before us, but circumstances come into our lives revealing our helplessness, inability to change or control circumstances, and the overwhelming feeling of fear, maybe even dread, will flood our hearts. And get a handle on this. They come from the Lord Himself. He doesn’t allow such experiences. He sends them. He put His people between the Egyptians and Red Sea with no place to go. Why? Read again what Moses says to them – “And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”” What they experienced was testing and maturing of their faith. They would learn their hope and deliverance are found in one place only – God.
God stills works this way in His children. To mature in the faith, we must encounter the testing of our faith. And that means being placed in circumstances beyond our ability to change or control. We must see the insufficiency of ourselves before we cry out to the Lord for His sufficiency.
The obvious conclusion for both the Israelites and us is the glory of God through His work of deliverance in His people’s lives. There would be no way for them or us to take credit for anything. This was all of God, and that, friends, is why God puts us in places where we have nowhere to go but to Him.
PRAYER: Father, help me confidently wait on You when I am facing a circumstance impossible to change.
REFLECTION: God places us in impossible situations and circumstances to teach us trust in Him alone.