Through the Red Sea

The Waters Are Divided

By faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned. (Hebrews 11:29, NASB)

With each step out of the land of Egypt, the Israelites must have tasted their freedom more and more. God was leading them away from the place in which they had been enslaved for generations. And then it happened. They found themselves face to face with a watery dead end as they stood at the shore of the Red Sea. And then, to make matters worse, Pharaoh decided to pursue them in order to bring them back into captivity. As the Egyptian army, with its horses and its chariots, came into sight, the Israelites once again became slaves – not slaves to the Egyptians, but slaves to their fear. They cried out to God, complained to Moses, and began to think that they were better off when they lived as slaves to the Egyptians. But Moses had faith in God. “Do not fear!” he told the Israelites. Moses believed that God would not allow them to be recaptured, and God used Moses to part the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to pass through on dry land before sending the pursuing Egyptian army to its watery grave (Exodus 14:1-31).

God provided a way for the Israelites to escape their captors and their fears. He made a way through the obstacle in front of them and away from the fear that pursued them. The way through the Red Sea was provided by God, but it required something on the part of the Israelites. In Exodus 14:16, God told Moses that he was to lift up his staff, stretch his hand over the sea, and divide the water, and that the Israelites were to walk through the sea on dry land. God’s way through the problem facing the Israelites required faith and action. Moses and the Israelites had to believe that what God said would happen would come to pass. They had to believe that the laws of nature would be bent and that the water would roll back, exposing dry land so that they could pass through. They had to believe that the water would be held back long enough for every one of them to make it through to the other side, ahead of the pursuing Egyptian army. And then they had to step out in that faith.

We will all face a Red Sea moment at some point in our lives. That Red Sea moment could be an addiction. It could be financial difficulties or the loss of a job. It could be sickness. Whatever our Red Sea is, we have a choice. We can stand in front of it and allow ourselves to become slaves to fear, anxiety, or worry. Or, we can seek God’s help, asking Him to help us through by parting our Red Sea. When we reach out to God, He will provide a way through our difficulties. That way could be miraculous, as God takes away our addiction, provides money or a job, or heals us from our sickness. Or God may simply give us the strength, hope, and courage we need to face the situation we are in. But, whatever shape that Red Sea parting takes for us, just like it did for the Israelites, it requires faith and action on our part. We need to believe that God will make a way for us. And we need to step out in faith and walk through our difficulty in whatever way God directs.

Are you standing before a Red Sea in your life? Are you at a standstill, paralyzed by fear in which the enemy is trying to enslave you? Cry out to God, allow Him to show you the way through, then step out in faith into the freedom that waits on the other side.