EXODUS 14:5-14 – “When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. 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: RED SEA EXPERIENCES.  Ever been to the Red Sea?  Likely not literally, though I can say I have multiple times while serving in the Navy.  Quite a body of water, and no Christian will be exempt from being on its shoreline, like God’s people in today’s scripture.

Here’s the scene.  God wore Pharaoh down with the plagues and the king of Egypt finally let the Israelites go.  So off to the promised land they went.  They arrived at the shore of the Red Sea, and looking over their shoulders, they saw a huge cloud of dust coming toward them.  Pharaoh not only changed his mind, but God hardened his heart and he was coming after the Israelites with a large army.  It was not a sending off party but a capturing party to take them back to Egypt or worse, death.  Now the application.

God’s people saw certain danger behind them and certain death ahead of them; Egyptians from the rear and deep waters without a boat or bridge before them.  Nowhere to go. No power to change their circumstances.  What did they do? They complained to God . . .

“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.””

Moses quickly responds with a strong exhortation and instruction what God’s people were to do, and it is not a natural response when circumstances and life are causing fear, worry, and anxiety . . .

“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.””

The Lord will put us in circumstances that “box us in” to teach us we control nothing or no one and cannot change anything or anyone.  It is called “learning submission.”  So, when we experience those Red Sea moments in life, stop and realize what we are to learn.  It is the hardest but most important lesson in the Christian life; God is sovereign and we are not.

PRAYER: Father, help me to learn that I cannot control or change circumstances and people in my life.

REFLECTION:  Submission to God’s sovereignty begins with realizing we are not sovereign in our lives.