Jesus said in John 16 33 in this world, you will have trouble.
You don’t have to go looking for trouble, just keep living and trouble. We’ll come and find you.
But it’s while you and I go through it that we get to really see the details about who our God is and listen, he wants to be known.
He wants to reveal himself to you.
He doesn’t want you and I to be satisfied just hearing about him at the conference or at church.
He’s so glad that we hear about him.
But he wants and you and I should want more than anything to experience this God of the bible, that the same power we see demonstrated in the miracles of scripture.
They become the reality of our life that we don’t just think this stuff is good for other people that, that we believe it’s true for us as well.
That the same God who divided the Red Sea is the same God who can divide the problems of our life.
The same God who raised Lazarus from the dead is the exact same God who has the strength and the power to raise to life, something in your life or in mind that seems like it will never be resurrected again.
He wants to be known. And so he takes you through it.
He allows you to go through it for the privilege of bringing you out on the other side, bringing me out on the other side.
More fully aware of the glory of God.
Exodus chapter 14, the Children of Israel have been released from about 400 years of captivity and they are on a journey in the wilderness headed toward the promised land.
And in the midst of this adventure with God, he’s going to take them through something.
There’s a problem, there’s a scenario, there’s a situation, there’s a difficulty that they cannot figure out for the life of them, how they’re going to be able to get across this difficulty so that they can move forward with God, just like so many of us that are in a group this size, there have to be more than a handful of us who are right now staring at what looks like a very impossible and seemingly impassable situation.
And you cannot for the life of you figure out how you’re going to be able to get through this thing so that you can move forward to what it is that God has for you.
The Children of Israel know exactly how you feel if you’ve ever been in that scenario because as they try to move forward towards the land of milk and honey that represents the grace and the favor, the promises, the provision of God and the land of Canon.
They come across a problem called the Red Sea.
Moses says to the people do not fear, stand by and see the salvation which he will accomplish for you today.
For the Egyptians whom you’ve seen today, you will never see them again forever.
The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.
Four things I want to share with any of you that are going through something right now in your life or that will ever go through something in your life.
That’s all of us. Moses said to the Children of Israel, the four exact things that the holy Spirit of God wants to say to you.
And I today he says, be fearless, do not fear. He says, be still stand by.
He says, be watchful, see the salvation of the Lord.
And he says, be quiet.
I want to hand you back the power.
My friend of the four things that Moses tells the Children of Israel is they kick it through so that they can move forward with God.
The very first. And I think most critical of the four is that Moses says to the Children of Israel, be fearless.
He says, do not be afraid this principle of choosing to live fearlessly.
Oh my goodness, you and I in the church of Jesus Christ across the planet and especially in this Bible teaching church have heard so much about this issue.
This principle of being fearless, of not being afraid.
We’ve heard it so much that sometimes we wonder whether or not we should even talk about it anymore because we’ve all just heard it so much that, that fear can paralyze us.
We wonder if I even sometimes wonder man, is it a waste of time to spend too much time this morning?
On this one principle, I thought that this morning before I came, they’ve heard that all before, but it is fear that the enemy will use more than anything else to cripple you and to cause you to be disabled from doing what God has for you.
That’s why Moses needed to say to the Children of Israel.
The exact same thing God’s spirit wants to say to you again this morning.
Do not be afraid y’all this issue of fear.
It is important and it was so critical that in the scriptures, some rendition of this command is given over 300 times.
It is said in different ways, different variations, but it’s basically the same thing.
Fear not, do not be afraid, be fearless, fear, ye not over and over and over again in different ways.
God wants to say to us the exact same thing.
In fact, it is so critical and so important to him that he gets to the New Testament.
And Paul writes a letter to a young man named Timothy.
And he says, Tim, this is what you need to know that He has not given us a spirit of fear.
He says of all the important things, Timothy that you need to know in your life.
And in this ministry that God is sending you through to as you go through things in this journey of life that you will inevitably go through.
He says, would you remember that what our God does not give?
And by the way, our God is in the gift giving business.
But one thing that He will never wrap up and tie a bow on to give to you is fear.
He gives power and love and a sound mind. There’s just so much going on in your life.
But what God does give to you is that sense of strength and stability to carry you and I through whatever it is that He brings into our life or allows into our lives.
He does not give fear if we believe that our God does not give a spirit of fear.
But you find, or I find in my life that there is a spirit of fear attached to something specific in your life or in your journey, an opportunity that you’re intimidated by a relationship, an endeavor, a ministry, a, an interest of yours that just seems to cause you to feel a little bit paralyzed in insecurity of fear or fear.
If you and I know what we know now based on the scriptures that God does not give fear, but you sense that there is a spirit of fear attached to something in your life.
And you know, God didn’t give it. That means, you know, who did?
And if the in enemy has placed a spirit of fear on something in your life, it must mean that He is trying his best to keep you away from something.
And if he’s trying to keep you away from it, that must mean there’s something in it that He does not want you to have.
So as the Children of Israel sat on the edge of the Red Sea.
If they were to shrink back in fear and not pass through it, then he knew if he could keep them from passing through it, they would also be kept from the promised land on the other side of it.
Listen, my friend, if the spirit of fear is attached to something in your life, would you know that that is likely the enemy’s way to keep you from passing through it because He knows if you pass through it on the other side of it is the destiny to which God has called you.
And so one of the main ways that He will keep you in eye from achieving what it is and doing what it is that God has called us to do and who He’s called us to be is that He will attach a spirit of fear to the very thing that He knows is the channel way to your destiny.
He wants you and how to be so paralyzed, so crippled, so disarmed, so disinterested from the very thing that He knows is exactly what God wants to take you through so that He can bring you to a new place in Him.
Do not be afraid, do not be afraid.
Now, listen, it does not mean that you won’t feel fear.
It made sense in this scenario that the Children of Israel would be afraid. It made complete sense.
They had just been in 400 years of captivity.
They are just several days really just hours even into the wilderness when they come up against a barrier that seems to board them in.
It seems like they’re going to be kept from walking into true freedom.
It makes sense that they would be afraid because not only is this body of water in front of them that they can’t see across nor can they see a shoreline on the east or the west.
But the problem is that now Pharaoh and his army is coming up on the rear and listen, scholars say that this army would have been so wide and so vast that they likely would have spanned around the east side and the west side of the Hebrew pilgrims.
So not only are they blocked in front and not only are they blocked by an army in back, but really, they are blocked on either side as well.
In other words, they are completely surrounded, you know what it’s like to be surrounded, you know what it’s like to fix this problem right here.
Only to turn this way and realize there’s a problem right here then to take care of this one.
Only to realize there’s another one here and another one here.
Anybody ever known what it felt like to be completely surrounded on all sides, the Children of Israel know how it feels.
And it makes sense that in their scenario, that they would be afraid, just like it makes sense that in your scenario, with the difficulty you’re facing right now in your marriage or in your health or in your finances.
So the command is not to that you will not feel fear.
It makes sense in our frailty in our humanness that we will feel it.
The question is whether or not you will choose to wallow in the fear that you feel.
The question is whether or not you will make a decision to sit with it, to make friends with it, to pull out tea and crackers and have a party with it.
The decision that you and I have to make is will we guard our minds with the word of God?
And in the power of God, will we do war against the enemy’s attempts to cripple us from moving forward in God?
Don’t let fear paralyze you my friend, every time you feel the emotion of fear or insecurity or intimidation creeping up on, you don’t make friends with it.
Take that as your cue to drop to your knees and to offer that fear up to God.
And then in the very next breath, command the promises of God’s word over your life and your circumstances.
The reason why you have no reason to be afraid.
My friend as God calls you to go here or do that or go through this particular thing in your life is not because you’re so capable.
It’s not because you’re so prepared. It is because you have a daddy who loves you.
He has already gone behind the scenes.
He has already orchestrated and manipulated events and people and circumstances so that all He needs is a woman that’s willing to say yes Lord and stand there at the plate of His grace and his glory and his calling on your life and to do what he’s called you to do.
And if you and I will just do it, we will realize we’ve been set up to hit a home run every single time.
So if right now there is something crippling you, the enemy is working overtime to cause you to be afraid in your life.
Will you hear this message from the Holy Spirit today? Step up to the plate. Do not be afraid.
Your God has got your back. The next message that Moses had for the Children of Israel.
And by the way, do you notice in this passage that it’s never really a debate whether or not they are going to cross over?
Did you notice that? He said this victory is a victory that he will accomplish for you today?
There’s no question as to whether or not you will come through victoriously.
My friend, I don’t know whether or not you’ve read the book, but in the end, we win, the victory has already been given to you.
Your only goal. My only goal now is you go through that thing in your life is just to claim to lay hold of what it is that has already been granted to you.
You are not fighting for victory. You’re fighting from a place of victory, your stance is already victorious.
It changes the way you look at the challenge when you know the victory is already yours.
So he says to them, he says, be fearless.
And the second thing he says to them is be still some translations read, stand by others say, stand firm, still others say stand still notice the two parts of this command, the standing part and the stillness part, neither of which are particularly simple for me, the standing and the stillness.
Actually, I have a problem with both of these commands, problem with them because if I had been there on the edge of the Red Sea and I’m watching the chariots and the bows and arrows and the soldiers that are approaching from behind and all around the sides when I am cornered like that in a scenario where I feel like there will never be any way of escape in this particular scenario that I’m in.
It just does not make sense to me that Moses would look at me as an Israelite in that particular predicament and say, here’s what you, what you’re going to do.
I want you to just stand still, Moses.
You mean you do see this wood right here.
You don’t want me to get this wood and start carving out a raft and getting it together so that we’ll have something to sail on to get over this body of water.
Mo Moses, you do see that we’ve got some swords here.
You don’t want me to pick up this sword and get ready to fight Mo You do understand that I’ve got a bow and an arrow here.
You don’t want me to pick up this bow and arrow and get ready to shoot it into the crowd.
Moses, you mean you don’t want me to take my earrings off and get some Vaseline on my knuckles and get ready to go.
No, Moses says to them, I do not want you to lean to your own understanding as to what you would think would be the best solution in this particular problem.
What I want you to do is to plant your feet firmly to stand and I want you to be still in faith and confidence and trust that the God that we serve the same God that delivered us out.
Egypt is the same God who will carry us through the Red Sea.
He says, stand still sounds like a very passive command in the midst of very active circumstances.
But I want you to think about this for just one second when I come home from a long day of work, when you do as well or running errands or whatever.
When I walk into the house after a long day, the last thing I want to do is stand.
What I do is I take my shoes off and then I, what do we do?
We sit, we find the most comfortable chair that we can and we collapse into it or lay flat on our bed.
And the reason is because all those standing seems like a passive action.
It actually there’s nothing passive about it.
Sitting is passive, laying is passive because then we’re allowing something else to carry our weight.
But when you stand, it requires a decision of your brain that transforms down to the muscles and the joints in your body.
It requires a resolve of your mind, your actions, your muscles, your your frame to keep itself upright.
When you’d rather just relax into something else to carry your weight. Standing is not passive at all.
It requires a decision, a choice, an action on your part, a resolution on your part to plant your feet on something and not be moved.
You need to know that our culture, the culture in which we live globally wants us to relax our standards, wants us to no longer plant our feet firmly on the word of God.
Doesn’t want us to make a resolution that we will not be moved to the left or the right that when we’re going through something that seeks to challenge everything that we thought we knew to be true about our God and about His commands.
What we will not do is allow our feet to be moved away from the firm belief and confidence and trust that we have in the promises of our great God.
It takes resolution in the culture in which we live y’all to plant your feet and stand firm high school student.
You got to stand firm university student, you’ve got to stand firm wife, mother, single woman in order to do be who it is that God has called you to be you and I are going to have to plant our feet solidly on the truths of God’s word and believe that everything he said is true and applies to our lives.
That it’s not just a book written with historical facts, that’s good for history, that it is a book that has been inspired by the Holy Spirit of God and that applies to us today.
Plant your feet on it my friend and stand, stand firm.
Ephesians six puts it this way, having done everything to stand, stand firmly.
And in other words, you just keep on standing.
I know that it might be a little bit tiring, a little bit exhausting.
You might feel pushed to the left or the right.
You might even want to take a step forward or backward or go out in your own power or your own strength, come up with your own solution for this incident or this issue, just plant your feet, trust God and stand firm.
He really does have your back.
And if God is for you, yeah, who can be against you?
I wonder how much sweat and how many sleepless nights and how much frustration and how much worry and concern and anxiety would be saved us.
The daughters of God, if we would just believe that our father wrote exactly what he wanted us to plant our feet and stand on.
Do not lean to your own understanding in all your ways, just acknowledge Him.
He will make straight your path even when it does not make sense, even when it doesn’t seem rational that this would be the way to come to any sort of resolution in that particular problem that you’re facing.
Lord. You don’t want me to do this. This just seems like a better option to me. Lord.
Nope, nope, plant your feet on what I said and stand still, trust God.
So Moses says, you want to get through this thing, you be fearless.
And then he says, you’d be still. And thirdly, he says, be watchful. I love this one so much.
He puts it this way. He told the Children of Israel see the salvation of the Lord.
Now, remember they have no idea at this point that the Lord is going to cause that Yahweh is going to cause the walls or the Red Sea to divide like two walls on either side, they have no clue what miracle is, is even going to be performed.
If a miracle is going to be performed, they have no clue at all.
So they are still looking at the problem as it currently is and with the Red Sea rushing in front of them with complete doubt in their mind as to how they’ll ever be able to traverse this particular issue that they are facing.
Moses says to them, see it. He says, see the salvation of the Lord before the miracle.
Now he’s not talking about when the miracle comes.
He’s saying before you have any clue of how God is going to take care of this scenario.
I want you to open up your eyes and see what’s happening right now.
Now, this is a problem for me.
I got to tell you Rebecca because when I have a problem in my life, the last thing I want to do is look at it.
I want to close my eyes and sleep through it.
I want God to hurry up and let it pass.
I want to rush through that thing and miss as much of it as I possibly can so that I can just move on to the good stuff.
Moses says, don’t wait on the good stuff. This is the good stuff.
He says, while you’re looking at your problem, your marriage is still a disaster.
Your child is still struggling with that issue. Your health still hasn’t been turned around.
Your finances are still on the edge. While we are still looking at the issue.
Moses says, open up your eyes and see what God is already up to.
He says there are a bunch of little miracles that if you’re just waiting on the big miracle, you’re going to miss all the other things that God is already doing and accomplishing on your behalf.
Moses is basically saying, I don’t want you to miss what it looks like.
I want you to always recall what it looked like when I stood on the edge of this water and I held out this rod over the body water before we even knew what was going to occur.
I want you to remember forever what it looked like.
The expression on the faces of your toddlers and your elderly as they watched the red Sea divide.
I want you to remember what it felt like to hold the hands of your sweet little grandma that you helped get across that body of water.
I want you to remember the details of what it felt like when that east wind starts to blow slowly at first across your cheeks, but then begins to grow and grow intensity.
So much so that you’ve got to hold your cloak around you or the wind will take it away when that Red Sea begins to divide.
I want you to never forget what it looked like when your sandal feet had absolutely no mud on the bottom of them because we’re walking across on dry ground.
He says, don’t just wait to see the big miracle.
There are a bunch of little miracles that God is already doing on your behalf.
Keep your eyes open and see the salvation of the Lord.
So listen to me my friend while you’re yet praying for a miracle.
I mean, keep praying, you stay on your knees.
The scripture says you and I can make our request known for God.
And so we pray, Lord, would you divide that Red Sea Lord?
Would you change my doctor, my medical, the the report that has been given Lord, would you help my child?
Lord? Would you take away this addiction?
Lord, would you smooth out this path on my job or in my ministry?
Lord, would you help my marriage to stop always hanging on by a threat and cause us to be just fervent in our love for each other and passionate and have peace and friendship here.
You and I keep praying for the miracle.
But in the meanwhile, we thank him for what he’s done this 24 hour period.
We thank him for the miracles he’s already accomplishing on our behalf.
We do not forget the benefits of the Lord, even while we’re praying for and looking forward to how he’s going to divide the red seas in our life.
You be watchful. See the salvation of the Lord.