God’s Care in our Crucial Moments
(Exodus 14: 21 - 23)
Biblical history has always been fascinating to know about. Unlike other histories, studying the history written in the Bible is a spiritual journey. It takes a bit of our faith, coupled with scientific understanding, to understand what is written. Surely, each of those words is written for a purpose and they are there to build us in faith. It is with this continuous fascination that I tend to understand the historical moment of Israelites crossing the Red sea. Right from my Sunday School days I have painted, drawn, imagined, heard, discussed, debated and have searched for evidence of this incident. I have even emotionally felt the awestruck minds of the people who got to witness this historical event.
I want you to stand with me once again at the shores of the Red Sea; want you to be reminded of the mental calamity that was unbearably horrific at these shores on that miraculous day. The Israelites, moving away from their slavery in Egypt to a life of freedom and blessing in Canaan, had this one obstacle to clear. From the route that they had taken to Canaan from Egypt, the Red sea was an obstacle that had to be overcome. And, indeed, the Israelites came near the shores of the Red Sea and camped nearby, on their way to Canaan. Imagine the mental atmospheres of these people. They are on their way to the ‘promised land’ and here there are, placed before the Red sea, waiting for a way to open. Their shameful past and slavery behind them in Egypt, and promised freedom and a blessed future beyond the sea.
However, we know that the Egyptian Pharoah suddenly
had a change of mind after sending away the Israelites. He wanted them in
slavery again. He could not afford the loss of such manpower in his project of
developing Egypt, and there he was, chasing behind the Israelites with his horses
and chariots until the Israelite camp appeared in his eyes. I keep contemplating
on this crucial moment, and truly this contemplation helps me to go through
hard times in my life. I frequently go through moments where I stand before the
Red sea, and become worried about the Pharoah chasing me behind. It is a
crucial moment of pressure and difficulty.
The Egyptian side of the Red sea reminds us of our
past, our old self, our addictions, our slavery to sin and the parts of our life
that remind us that we were slaves. And, then, we see Pharaohs, who keep
chasing us and remind us of our old selves, trying to hold us back in our path
to salvation and redemption through Christ Jesus. We are able to see the
life of freedom and blessing on the other side of the sea; a great spiritual revelation
at hand beyond the troubled waters in life. And, we are stuck in the midst of these
two. We stand on this threshold. A Pharoah chasing behind, and Red sea being
the obstacle in front of our eyes. Unable to move. Unable to overcome. Unable to
return. Withdrawing and submitting to a life of slavery to sin not being an
option at all, we cry out to the Lord our God.
Let me assure you in the Lord, my dear friends in
Christ, that the Lord will intervene! His care in our crucial moments is so
abundant that He will go out of the way to redeem us from this threshold of
panic, worry and difficulty, and we will witness His miraculous way becoming opened
before us. God will make a way! He will carry us through. The more the pressure
on the shores of the Red sea, the more was cry out to the Lord. Let us not,
like many Israelites did, curse and voice our anger at such moments. Instead, let
us become stronger in faith and look unto the miraculous hands of the Lord our
God. We will surely see the Lord’s hand at work, and the miraculous ways in
which He opens ways for us. God redeemed the Israelites that day from the hands
of slavery by making a miraculous way through the sea. He silenced the horses
and chariots of the Pharoah and the sounds of celebration and liberation were
heard on the other side of the Red sea.
Today I want to encourage you in the Lord with the same
kind of faith. We may be caught in the midst of the Pharaohs and Red seas of
our lives. But have faith in the Lord. He will save you. He will make a way.
His miraculous hand will save us and take us through the hardest parts of our
lives that will lead us to the promised blessings of God. May the power and
blessings of God the Father, the love and grace of Christ Jesus the Son, and
the fellowship and guidance of the Holy Spirit be with us and help us as we
continue to trust the Lord our God and move on with victory crossing the Red
seas of our lives.
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
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