The fledgling nation of Israel knew all about standing between a rock and a hard place that day, on the shore of the Red Sea, when God’s deliverance was the only way out.

 

The Almighty had sent them on a route that convinced Pharaoh that they were easy pickings. Staring down the mighty Egyptian army pursuing them after having just been released from slavery must have been disheartening and perplexing.

 

The Israelites reacted just as I suspect I would have: they were terrified. Sometimes, even when God is guiding you, the way seems fraught with difficulties – impossible even.

 

The shackles of the slave mentality had not yet been loosed. Stuck, they soon found themselves filled with doubt about what God had done, despite witnessing unimaginable miracles. They had boldly walked out of Egypt. Yet, here they were, challenged days in, at the first obstacle. They spoke as if it would have been better to return to servitude.

 

On the parting of the Red Sea, Pastor David Guzik noted, “Do you think Moses or anybody in Israel had a clue that that's how God was going to do it, I don't think so, I think of all the half-dozen different options that they thought of, that one didn't enter into their mind at all, that one was hidden away in God's treasury of resources.”

 

Freedom rarely comes easily. Like the Israelites did with Egypt, Pastor Guzik aptly shares that we can romanticise the sinful lives we lived before Jesus, despite what it cost him. The easy way out can look all too tempting, even though God comes through for us again and again. It is still easy to doubt his providence, Word or power when adversity comes knocking at the door. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii6Og-vQlbI&t=2131s)

 

None of us is privy to God’s resources. Some of it, we simply cannot comprehend. Will we allow God to work out his purposes in our lives even if we do not understand it? Moses had no idea how God was going to work, but he trusted in God’s deliverance nonetheless. Will you trust God with your challenges?

 

Prayer: The psalmist exhorts us to be still and know that He is God. He also fights our battles. Lord, help us to stand on your Word and promises for deliverance even when things do not seem to make sense. Amen.