i am currently involved in a women's bible study by angela thomas. i have learned so much & enjoy the dvd "messages" each week. but this past week, angela made a point that has continued to run through my mind all week. she re-told the ancient account of the exodus of the israelites. permit me to recap:
so GOD's people are in bondage to the egyptians & moses is told - by GOD - to go to pharaoh & ask him to release the israelites. pharaoh is not keen on this idea (because GOD has "hardened his heart" - ex. 7. 3) and says "no"...multiple times. cue various plagues - water turns to blood, frogs everywhere, gnats everywhere, flies everywhere, all egyptian livestock dies, boils on man & livestock, hail, locusts everywhere, every first born of egyptian people & livestock killed. and now, pharaoh says "get out!" so the israelites prepare to leave. but they don't just flee, they pack up their food & supplies and even "plundered the egyptians" taking "whatever they asked for" (ex. 12.36). so they are now loaded down with food, herds, gold, silver, all sorts of supplies, etc. - wildly blessed. they praise GOD for this deliverance.
however, within a very short amount of time they find themselves in a predicament. they are on the edge of the red sea. this situation wouldn't have been so menacing except for that now pharaoh has decided that he shouldn't have let them go & is pursuing them with his entire army on horses & chariots. now GOD's people are faced with a crisis: giant body of water in front, pharaoh's army behind...their natural response is "hey moses, were there just not enough graves in egypt that you had to bring us out here to die?" (ex. 14.11 - my paraphrase) but moses responds with a solid affirmation of faith: "do not be afraid. stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today." (ex. 14.13)
ok, so if you've heard the story before, you already know what GOD is about to do. HE's going to show up BIG & part the sea. literally. the israelites will walk across on "dry land" with walls of water on each side. that's crazy! sometimes i think we forget how AWESOME this is. but here's where angela's point floored me. she said "i am pretty sure that as the israelites are standing at the edge, worrying, fretting, & trying to figure this out, not one of them thought 'if GOD would just part the sea, then we could walk across'". this didn't even cross their minds! would you have thought it up? you see, they were scared & nervous & unsure about their future. they know they can't get across the sea on their own & they stand no chance against the egyptian army. so i imagine them standing there trying to figure out a way that GOD could save them - like we do so often. "maybe if we could get some of these supplies that GOD allowed us to take from egypt & fashion some sort of bridge..." "maybe we could split up & start heading around sea, ya know, do something to distract the egyptian army..." they were probably even praying something like "GOD, help us to build this bridge so we can get away from certain death."
but you see, moses told them "do not be afraid. stand firm & you will see the deliverance of the LORD". i think that so many times i come up with ways that GOD can deliver me from the crisis' in my life. i give HIM options...how ridiculous is that? instead, i believe that HE is saying "stop fretting & trying to figure it all out. stand firm, beloved & watch me show up in a way that you could never even imagine!"
since my GOD can part the red sea, i know that HE can do something BIG in my life today! so i will stand firm.
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