There comes a time in the lives of every true believer when in their journey they come to face a “Red Sea.” I’ll bet you thought that that was a one-time thing that only happened with Moses and the Israelites when Pharoah FINALLY gave in and let them go, only to change his mind and chase after them with his men. (You can read about it in Exodus Chapter 14). The Bible tells us that the Israelites BECAME afraid and what did they say? Let’s take a look at Exodus 14:10-12:
And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”
Instead of trusting in the God Who had sent Moses to free them from captivity in Egypt, they looked at their circumstances and immediately became filled with fear. Gone was their faith in the God Who had delivered them. How it must have pained the Father, how it must have made Him wince as they looked back at their capture wistfully, after years of praying for deliverance, grumbling and thinking it would have been better if they had NEVER left…
Hey – we are not so different than they were… If you were to really think about it and answer honestly, we do the SAME thing now. What situation have you found yourself in that has become your “Red Sea” moment? God allows us to encounter those “stand still moments” because He wants to see how we are going to respond. Will you respond as they did back then?
WILL YOU TRUST HIM TO PART YOUR RED SEA AND MOVE YOU SAFELY TO THE OTHER SIDE? OR WILL YOU GIVE IN TO THE MOCKING OF THE DEVIL AND AGREE THAT YOUR FAITH WAS IN VAIN???
Your choice could very well make the difference as to what occurs next, will you be led by fear or by faith? Now don’t get me wrong, God understands if you are feeling scared (it’s okay to be honest with Him) but you have to determine how you are going to proceed – in fear or in faith.
We often forget that God has feelings! The Bible attests to this throughout its pages! How selfish we can be, we don’t think about His feelings, only our own. You may laugh at the very thought of this, but when I began giving some thought to this, I started to worship Him accordingly; after all if I am in a “personal relationship” with Him it means our relationship should be a “two-way street”, I began to talk to God like this:
“Father, I love You! How are YOU today? How can I show You my love? What can I do to bless You today? I love You so much and I want to show You. Father, I am after YOUR heart.”
I know when you read that it might sound silly, you might even be rolling your eyes, but here is the thing – God has shown me His love and His level of commitment to me throughout the 36 years that I have been saved; Part of your testimony as you grow in Him is being able to look back on the ways God answered prayer, hopefully when you reflect on your walk with Him you will be able to see areas where He has grown you and IS in the process of growing you in Him! There are parts of my walk where I see I was disobedient to His will and His Word and how the only one it ended up hurting (I’m talking about during my prodigal time) was ME.
So much of the pain we experience in life is because we chose to do what “we THOUGHT was right” and not what God has indicated IS right. Like a wayward teenager we thought we knew MORE than our Heavenly Father, and that He was being a “MEAN” Father when all He was doing was trying to protect us from the effects of sin – all because we (or in my case I) chose to go down a pathway God NEVER intended me to go. You see, The Bible which speaks on EVERYTHING clearly tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:9-12:
“For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
We choose to trust in OURSELVES rather than the all-knowing, powerful Father. And when we do, we usually make a mess of things… But thankfully Father God loves us INSPITE of ourselves. INSPITE of the pain we cause Him.
THAT’S CALLED GRACE
The very last thing Ol’ Slewfoot wants is for you to pick up that Bible you have, (you know – the one that’s sitting on your bookshelf or in your drawer collecting dust?) And READ IT. Maybe you have been getting frustrated with God because “you aren’t hearing from Him,” in the meantime while you’re complaining on how He NEVER talks to you, Your Loving Father is saying:
“Hey! I’m RIGHT here! Waiting for you to pick up my love letter to you – My Word! There is SO much I long to reveal to you, show you IF only you would take time to read it!”
If you want to “KNOW” God and draw nearer to Him
READ HIS WORD, HE WROTE IT FOR YOU!
I am not writing this to convict you, but to encourage you! There have been plenty moments in my life where I have been that person complaining to the Father, myself!
“Why won’t You speak to me?!!!”
We don’t listen, and it is like choosing not to eat! We become weak in our faith. We become MORE susceptible to the attacks of the devil; remember the very LAST thing He wants is for you to grow in Christ! He does NOT want you to fulfill your purpose! The purpose that God created you to fulfill long before you were even born! The devil will do everything to keep you distracted from doing the things you need to do (read your Bible, pray, fellowship with other believers) so that you will stand there when you face a “Red Sea” moment and complain. Stand there with your eyes on your stormy situation and off of Jesus and you begin to sink.
God may not answer your prayer in the manner you expect Him to, but in trusting Him you are giving up YOUR will and asking Him for His because you have decided that you CAN trust Him. Even when trusting is hard, it goes the grain of how we have been brought up in this world. That’s why it’s important in training ourselves to “walk by faith” can feel arduous! Our faith muscle hasn’t been exercised and when we choose to work it out, it feels foreign to us. However, I attest that the more you choose to walk BY faith and NOT by what you see, the MORE you choose to rely on the Father and NOT on yourself (or others) you experience peace and love like never before. When you decide to TRUST God and to walk in the knowledge that you are HIS responsibility and NOT your own awesome things start to happen!
IT PLEASES GOD!
Dear Remnant – there is NO GREATER joy than knowing that YOUR faith pleases your Heavenly Father! So MANY of our promises are based upon your putting God first! Walking IN faith and NOT in what you see before you! Knowing and walking in that knowledge that God TRULY is GREATER than your circumstances!
YOU CAN’T HAVE A “PLAN B” AND PROFESS TO TRUST IN GOD
Having a “Plan B” signifies you don’t trust God enough to work whatever it is out. AND if you are believing Him for something, having a “Plan B” definitely shows a lack of faith! Every time you read in the Bible a situation where instead of trusting God the people put a “Plan B” in action, chaos resulted. (Don’t believe me? Just take a look at Abraham and Sarah’s story in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 16 when God told Abraham that “He would be a father to MANY nations!” ) Read for yourself what Sarah decided to do as she waited for God to bless her with a child. The results of THAT “Plan B” are STILL affecting the nations in THIS day and age! (That’s not me being judgy, that’s the truth!).
Hebrews 11:6 tells us:
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
James 1:8 Tells us:
A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
You can’t fool God! He SEES You! He KNOWS You! He has a plan for your life! One where He desires you to walk in the fullness of ALL He has for you! You STILL get to choose., still get to decide. You either walk in trust OR distrust, you choose and because He loves you, no matter what – Holy Spirit will be with you through it all (Good choices AND bad) to bring you back where God wants you to be, because God loves you and as long as you have breath in your body, He’s going to keep trying to get you to trust in Him. That’s His grace, His faithfulness, His mercy, His forgiveness and most of all His love for you, which is new every day, you only have to believe.
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