Sometimes we face situations that seem impossible. How will this be resolved? What can I do to get through this? And many times, in the natural, the situation IS impossible. There are no natural solutions. There is nothing we can do to deliver ourselves from this predicament.
That may seem awful at the time - no one wants to be out of control and helpless. But, in reality, those are the times to look to the Lord for deliverance. Only God can take an impossible situation and make a solution possible. And he loves to do that if we just let Him.
When Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt, He had an impossible task in front of him. The Bible tells us that about 600,000 men were in his company, along with women and children – possibly 2 million people in all. He had to lead them through the desert to an unknown land, not knowing what lay ahead of him. This was not a job Moses applied for, nor did he want to do it. He was drafted into this position.
To complicate matters, Pharaoh - the leader of Egypt - had a change of heart and decided not to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. He could not allow a group of slaves make him look weak and so had to make an example of them. So, he mustered up his best chariots and charioteers and pursued Moses and the Israelites. As they camped along the Red Sea, the people of Israel could see the dust being generated from the approaching chariots and horses. Panic set in. Many started lashing out at Moses, blaming him for their situation. “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, "Leave us alone: let us serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Exodus 14:11-12).
Now, to be brutally honest, if I were Moses, I probably would have said “Arrivederci!” and left them there! But Moses did not do that. He called out to God for deliverance. He did not try to get the Israelites to start swimming across the Red Sea. He did not tell them to dig in and prepare to fight the obviously stronger and better equipped force coming towards them. He did not encourage them to surrender to the Egyptians and plead for mercy. He sought the Lord.
His response to the people was something that they were not expecting. In fact, it would have been a very unnatural response for any of us. Moses said to the people, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Be still? With this deadly army coming toward us ready to slaughter us? Are you serious?
When an impossible situation faces us, we often will try to escape by swimming across the Red Sea. Or we may try to fight it, knowing that it was beyond our ability to win. Or perhaps we may even just give up and surrender. But Moses' advice to the Israelites is good advice for us today: The Lord will fight for us; we only need to be still. No one alive back then could have ever pictured the sea parting so that the Israelites could pass through on dry ground. Not only was the parting of the water a miracle, but the fact that the seabed was dry was another miracle! Yet the Lord provided those miracles for His people.
Since Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), He will do the same for us today. Whatever your impossible situation is, please remember that the Lord is the God of the impossible. He will provide a way where there is no way. He will open up the sea and take you through to safety. Furthermore, He will drown your impossible situation in that sea so that it will never pursue you again. Our God is the God of the impossible. Do not lose hope; do not give in; do not despair. The Lord will fight for you. You only need to be still.
Comments