There are so many stories preserved for us in the Old Testament which serve as powerful analogies and examples for our experiences in life today. One of the most incredible narratives for me is when God set the captives free from slavery in Egypt and they began their journey towards the promised land. It could have been a journey of only 8-10 days. However, it took over 40 years and God’s people faced many obstacles and made many mistakes along the way. The first, and perhaps the greatest obstacle, was the Red Sea. With Pharaoh’s army in hot pursuit, the journey was about to be all over before it really began. There was no way past the raging torrent before them. The barrier was just too great, unless God intervened. We know what happened next, don’t we? But how easily we forget this amazing story when we face our ‘Red Sea.’
We also face many challenges in our journey to our ‘promised land’ and we are meant to draw strength from the many accounts we have been given of God’s people finding a breakthrough and trusting God to clear a path. Sadly, we are more likely to be frozen in fear or immobilised by apathy as we sit on the very edge of all that God has promised and all for which we have lived and hoped and struggled and cried and laboured. Perhaps you are at such a place right now?
Do you have the faith to cross that sea? Do you believe God has led you this far and will get you across that sea of doubt and fear and unrealised expectations? Are you ready to trust Him to get you into the land He promised to give you? Or will you turn back like many wanted to at that first Red Sea?
That sea represents many things for many people:
For some it is the pain of betrayal which they cannot (or will not) let go of.
For some it’s the apathy that comes from not seeing progress for so long.
For some it’s the fear of letting go and surrendering totally to God in case they lose control or embarrass themselves or worse still, become one of those ‘enthusiastic’ Spirit-filled Christians who annoy everyone else!
For some it’s doubt – they feel let down by God – they feel He was not there for them at some point. Their expectations were not realised and they prayed their hearts out, only to see tragedy or pain or disappointment. They simply don’t want to trust God again.
For some it’s fatigue. They are just tired. They trust God; they are free; deep down they are really grateful for all that God has done in them and in their Church but they just want a rest from the fight.
As I have looked out across the Church over the past ten years I have seen some battle weary soldiers who have endured the hardship of war. They have lost loved ones along the way. They have seen friends fall in that battle. They have seen many flee from the heat of conflict, leaving them even more exposed to the enemy’s firepower.
I see a committed, but battle-weary army who have made it through a war that would have wiped many out years ago. People who never lost sight of that horizon of freedom; people who believed that God had His hand on them and their Church regardless of what circumstances surrounded them. Soldiers who at times were dragging several wounded colleagues through the trenches whilst trying to fend off fresh assaults from the enemy. Bless you for your faith and stamina. The Lord wants you to know that He is pleased with you. With all your failings and sin and bad decisions and all the things that you may have done which contributed to your pain, God wants you to know that He has seen your heart and that is what He seeks the most.
You see, friend, at the end our worst day all the Lord wants is our hearts. He knows how tough it is down here and He knows how many times were are going to slip and fall and get it wrong. It is our heart that counts and the Lord has seen the hearts of those who have endured and He has seen the hearts of those He has brought alongside us in this next leg of our journey. Together, we will press on towards the banquet room to feast with Jesus. Together, we will watch that sea part and we will walk over on dry land.
Listen to me friend, in Jesus name, listen to me – when you walk over on dry land; when you cross your ‘Red Sea,’ whatever that may be for you, you will be able to look back and watch that waves come crashing down on all your enemies. You will see everything that came against you before then washed away by God. You will see pain, heartache, disappointment; betrayal; sins you’ve committed and sins committed against you; failure; hurt; anger; a lack of faith and especially fear – you will see them all floating away in the sea of God’s fulfilled promises to you.
You will be able to feel the release and the joy of knowing that those enemies will not follow you anymore as you enter into the joy of God’s redemptive purpose for you and for His Church without any encumbrance, without any baggage and without any of yesterday’s pain.
“… If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32)