Exodus 14 - God of Impossible

Have you ever been in an impossible situation?  Sometimes the stress of events in our lives leaves us feeling frustrated. An unkindness or mistreatment can leave us feeling powerless. Perhaps your financial situation seems overwhelming and you feel you can never repay what you owe to others. Well, take heart - because this chapter of Exodus shows us that especially in impossible situations God is more than able to supply our need and gets greater glory because of it. 

In this chapter the hard heart of Pharaoh turns once again against the Israelites and they find themselves hemmed in against the Red Sea with the threat of annihilation coming from behind. They were following God's angel and they had a cloud pillar to guide their direction. 

Who's to blame?

Notice in the chapter that even though it was Pharaoh who is coming against them and God who has set up supernatural guidance for them, the first person to get the blame is Moses (Ex 14:11). Certainly it must be Moses who misunderstood God and has placed them in jeopardy. Why would God set them up for even more trouble? 

Our own first tendency when faced with difficulty is to look for someone to hold accountable. Someone must be responsible for the crime. If we don't see that we caused it ourselves we often turn on each other. 

God's Fight

In my own life, I know I have been way too quick to jump into a fight that is God's - to fight in my desire for justice. Moses redirects the people's attention to God and says "The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still". (Ex. 14:14) What wise words for us to apply to our own lives. If we would just make our primary focus be obedience and let God worry about the rest we would see God work in ways we never imagined. 

In the area of our finances, if we apply the direction provided to us in the Bible we would see God keep us in His care and provide for our needs in amazing ways. We cannot let the doubts of this world convince us to follow its ways. So many of us have fallen into the trap of debt by believing the lie that having our desires now is better than waiting. We forfeit our future to have token pleasures now. It is like the person who says, "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die". We indulge because we don't know for certain that we have a future and so we squander it today. Obedience and faith are two sides if the same coin; and God in this chapter challenged his people to follow Him and trust Him for the results. 

It was God who put them into this impossible situation so that only an act of God could save them and He would be renowned among all the nations as God fights their battle. 

Way of escape

If God has placed you in an impossible situation you can be sure that he will offer a way of escape as you continue to faithfully lean on Him. For the Israelites, He placed a hedge of protection between them and their enemy; he opened the sea and allowed the nation of more than a million people and their livestock and belongings to pass through. I think he must have quickened their steps as well. I understand that the narrowest crossing would have been at least 10 miles wide. Through the night, I could probably walk that on my own, but with one million in the crowd and livestock and all the belongings, it must have been a miracle beyond the parting of the water.  It took most of the night to pass through the sea, but God provided them light for their way; yet there was blackness for the Egyptians. It is much like the contrast between the worlds way and God's. 

No escape for Egyptian Army

Without a single arrow fired on the part of the Israelites they saw the defeat of the mightiest army in the planet. It says that not one survived. Ex. 14:28.  It is that way for the person who will not believe God and see their need for salvation. There is judgement that they cannot escape.  

God's people were finally free and they did nothing to cause it. God fought the battle and God got the glory. We get glimpses if it here on earth, but if we do not see our deliverance here, we will certainly enjoy the blessings stored up for us in Heaven. 

Hope for you

Dear Christian if you are in the midst of an impossible situation, know that God so loves you that He offers you this opportunity to see His hand reach down and to fight the battle.  In doing so He gains glory for Himself. Our responsibility is tie trust and obey. In the midst if the blackest dark, God sees. In the face of impossibility, God provides. I am reminded of what the angel told Mary in Luke 1:37, "For nothing is impossible with God."  

May God richly bless you as you seek Him and as you serve Him.