So often when God calls us to do something (from job, relationship, family, career, ministry, emotional healing, spiritual growth or study, etc) we step up to the water's edge wanting to go "all in" but instead, we choose to be still. We look longingly into the waters wishing and wondering but fear whispers What if I don't make it? What if I drown? What if I don't know where to go or where it will lead me? Why is it we choose to listen to fear instead of faith? Are we more in tune with our flesh or the Spirit? Faith says What if God does what He says He is going to do? What if God performs a miracle in this? What if God is bigger than I imagine and can do greater things than I could dream? What if it's the most beautiful joy?
I think we forget Who God is, The I Am. He Is. He Can. He Will. And we forget who we are in Him. When we start the cycle of doubt, we spiral through fear, worry, feelings of inadequacy, aloneness, loss of control, eventually losing our hope and wonder. Soon, we loose our joy and awe. Without passion, we go nowhere fast.
Do you remember those days at the beach when you would stand still on the water's edge and let your feet sink into the sand? After the ankles disappear, you must pull with all your might to loosen the suction from down under. The deeper you sink, the greater the suction and therefore the power you need to break loose is greater. Same with our little (physical, emotional, spiritual) pits we create for ourselves. When we stand there long enough, the deeper we sink. The deeper we sink, the greater the suction. The greater the suction, the greater the strength we need to get back out. And if we don't have enough strength to get out, we will be stuck! Only a supernatural strength can free us from such a depth! Really, I ought to fear the super-power more than the suction-power. How much greater must it be to overcome such a great weight! "Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." 1 John 4:4bRead this Word from Exodus 14:19-31 (ESV) and be encouraged! You are not alone! He doesn't need you but He wants you to join Him in awe and wonder!! Notice what the Lord did with Moses, despite His pit of doubt. And see what Moses accomplished with the Lord despite His power to put that man in his place for questioning Him. Not only did God teach a lesson of faithfulness and trust to Moses personally, but for all the thousands of Israelites who stood at the water's edge (not to mention us today!). Moses (in God's strength) was a witness of God's power and gave them courage to go "all in." He was a display of awe for The Lord. The impact is immeasurable!
We serve a faithful, forgiving, gracious, all powerful God!! Don't forget it! The Israelites did...they got across the dry land of the red sea by walking one step at a time but they soon found themselves doing circles in the wilderness sand because of their fear and doubt. Guess they forgot about I Am!!
"Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians."
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen." So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.
The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses."
His Word tells us and the Holy Spirit reminds us that God is with us, He goes before us and moves behind us in the face of opposition. He works in ways we cannot see and we may never know. He is in control, and if He is leading us then we must trust He will be our Guide and our Guard. And while God performs miracles on His own, He also uses us to be an instrument of His glory on display. Is He asking you to lead like Moses and join Him on a mission where not only your faith will be strengthened but so will the people around you be a witness of His power and faithfulness?!? May our passion, confidence, strength and steady pace be found in The I Am with a joy filled awe that never sinks in shifting sand.
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