I know you know the story. If not, you can read it in the 14th chapter of Exodus. The Hebrews stood with their backs to the sea. There was literally no place to run. Pharaoh's army pressed down upon them trapping them between a sea of water and a sea of angry men determined to return the rebellious slaves to their tasks.
God had given them orders through His main man Moses to go to the promise land and take it for their own. But here they were, facing a barrier they could not cross, a force they could not defeat and a task they could not accomplish.
They had no earthly way of crossing that river. There was no possibility for them to fight against and defeat the mightiest army in the known world. These men had never been out of the land of Egypt, how could they find the promise land much less take possession of it?
They were afraid, they cried out in fear to the Lord and cried out in protest to Moses. "It would have been better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness"!
Can you put yourself in their Sinai sneaker for just a moment? Can you feel their fear? Can you relate to their rhetoric?
I bet you can. If we occupy the same planet and you are living in the same old world where I live, although your problems might not be as literal as theirs, you too have been left with un-crossable barriers, un-defeatable forces and un-accomplish-able task.
You have felt the hopelessness and have heard the enemy's wicked laugh as you tremble before your assailant. How do they say it? "Been there, done that and have the "T" shirt".
I can picture them falling on their knees in the hot desert sand. The heat from the sun beating down on their heads and the heat from the soldier's breathing down their necks. Hopeless is a word that might have best described them.
But what a difference between their now and their later.
In the lives of those Hebrews something happened and that something was God. While they stood still the angel of God moved between them and the Egyptians. Moses' hand moved the rod over the sea and the sea moved back and revealed an interstate highway right through the middle of the water.
Only a short time ago is was "Why have you taken us here to die in the wilderness"? and now it is, "The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God; and I will exalt him"
How would they have behaved on the West side of the river if they would only have believed the promises of God? If they could, with eyes of faith have looked on that situation and seen the promised outcome. There would have been no fear. There would have been no trepidation, there would have been no cry of defeat. They would have been dancing for joy at results not yet seen. The rumbling at the Red Sea would have been the pounding of Hebrew feet as they danced in the sand. But that didn't happen.
Some of you are standing in a place like that today. Barriers separate you from the promised side. Forces that are beyond your control press down on you. Task that you have no earthly way of accomplishing stand like a bill-board proclaiming your defeat even before the battle begins.
But open your eyes. If you could feel now what you will feel when the battle is over, you would behave differently. Dancing instead of defeat, singing instead of sighing, triumph instead of trepidation. The only thing that separates us from victory is faith in an unstoppable God.
He is on our side. He is able to do what He promised. He will never fail nor forsake us. Live in the now if you must but never forget what things will be like in just a short time. Live like you truly believe His promises.
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