Crossing Your Red Sea

What is faith? Faith is an overwhelming, unexplainable, undeniable, unquestionable trust in God. Faith is looking into the face of a challenge and saying, “I can’t do anything about this, but God can.” Faith is looking at the impossible and saying “With God, all things are possible.”

No matter the situation, no matter the difficulty, no mater the circumstance, faith is looking at something you cannot control, cannot change and cannot do, and saying: God can.

God is intentional in all that He does. There are no mistakes, no chances, no missteps with God. We have something that the Children of Israel did not have when they stood on the shore of the Red Sea, we have the Bible, so we know what is about to take place. We know what God is about to do. Because of this knowledge we tend to judge the Israelites, do we not? We say “If they had only had faith, they would not have doubted God at the Red Sea.”

I want you to remember those words the next time you’re facing a Red Sea. The next time your life gets out of control, the next time you face something and you have no explanation as to why God led you to that place. I want you to remember your words about the Israelites on the shore of the Red Sea!

The next time you’re facing a Red Sea and all hope seems lost, the next time you feel trapped with no hope, the next time you think your life is over, I want you to look at your situation and say “God Can”!

Proposition: If God could bring the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground, He can bring you through whatever you’re facing too!

Interrogative: What will your response be the next time you face a Red Sea?

There are some important lessons we may learn from Red Sea experiences. First we learn...

God Knows What He is Doing vv. 1-4

Because God knows what He’s doing...

You don’t have to understand

He told them to turn back around v. 2

They’d just left Egypt

Egypt is a type or a picture of the world

Sinful, hateful, the opposes God and His people

They were enslaved there they were in bondage to their sin there

God led them out!

They were headed for the promised land

This is the place where God could bless them

Canaan is not a picture of heaven, but the picture of victory in Jesus

God told them to turn back around

He told them what would happen v. 3

They were thinking, “If we head back toward Egypt, won’t Pharaoh notice”?

God says, “yep”

That's the plan

I would be thinking, “God, can’t you come up with a better plan?”

News flash, God doesn’t discuss His plans with us

It’s OK, you don’t have to understand, look next...

He told them what He would do happen v. 4a

Not only will Pharoah possibly notice you, I full intend him to

Not only will Pharoah spot you, but I will harden his heart (means to encourage BTW), to follow (pursue) you.

God is saying to Moses and Moses to the people...

Turn back around and head back toward Egypt so that I can send Pharaoh and his army after you

Don’t miss this...

He told them why He would do it...

So that God would be glorified by the collapse of Pharaoh's army

God sent His people, the people He loved, back toward danger, so that He could receive glory from Pharaoh's defeat and so the Egyptians would know there was a God in heaven.

God knows what He is doing, you do not have to understand but...

You do have to trust God

I like that little phrase at the end of verse 4...

“And they did so”

They didn’t question

They didn’t hesitate

They didn’t argue

They obeyed

I don’t know what Red Sea you may be facing, but I know God knows what He is doing.

Right here, right now, if you are in a trial, you don’t have to understand it, but you do have to trust God. I promise you today that whatever difficultly you find yourself in, whatever challenge you are facing, God is using it for your good and for His glory! First lesson, God knows what He is doing. Second lesson we learn from the Red Sea...

God Knows Your Situation vv. 5-12

A lot can change in a day. In just a few short hours your life, which may be perfect right now, can be devastated in a few moments time. Remember, God knows your situation. Notice here...

God knew Pharoah was coming vv. 5-9

In fact we are told God is responsible for his coming

It was God, we read in verse 8 that hardened the heart of Pharaoh

God told Moses His plans, but not what He was about to do

The only reason we know what is about to happen is because it written in God’s Word for us

The people were simply being obedient to their God who had brought them out of Egypt

Do you want to hear something good?

God knows what is coming your way

Your circumstances may take you by surprise, but nothing ever takes God by surprise!

You situation may change, but God never changes!

Not only did God know Pharaoh was coming, but...

God knew Israel was tapped

Mountains on one side, wilderness on the other, an angry army on their heels, and a sea in front of them. They were trapped

Have you ever been there before?

Have you ever found yourself in a situation when all hope seemed lost?

Have you ever felt you had no way out

Have you ever been tempted just to throw in the towel and quit?

What a play on words verse 11 is...

Egypt was a land of graves!

The great pyramids of Egypt…graves

They were saying to Moses, it would have been better to have remained enslaved in Egypt and to die there than to die here.

Remember, God knows your situation

The devil wants nothing more than for you to quit, to give up

Church, it’s always too soon to quit on God!

Trust God that He knows what He is doing

Remember too...

This whole trial was God’s plan

I cal your attention back to Exodus 14:4 “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so.”

Romans 8:28 KJV 1900

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

God knows your situation. He is not some far away God who couldn’t care less. He is Almighty God and He is near, and He is willing! First lesson from the Red Sea, God knows What He is doing. Second lesson, God knows your situation. The final lesson we need to learn from the Red Sea is...

God Will Never Let You Down vv. 13-31

Here is possibly the greatest reminders from Israel's Red Sea we need for our Red Seas...

The battle you are facing does not belong to you vv. 13-14

That Egyptian army was no match for Almighty God

Whatever challenge comes your way next is not a match for Almighty God

Have you ever thought of what it would have been like if Israel had decided to fight?

They would have been slaughtered because that was not God’s intention!

Read verse 14 again…its not your battle, its God’s.

God never issues a command to retreat

Read verse 15....

Need I remind you that going forward meant going into the sea

Need I remind you that sea was no match for Almighty God.

When God leads you to a Red Sea, God will bring you through that Red Sea.

If you find yourself facing a Red Sea today, you may be tempted to turn back, to fight on your own power…God’s not telling you to do that

God is telling you to remind your sea that He is the Master of the Sea!

God’s way is the best way

Look again at verse 13 …Exodus 14:13 “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.”

God used that sea, that obstacle, that roadblock, that challenge, that difficult situation to deliver Israel. So the next time you face a Red Sea, instead of seeing a dead end, look for a new beginning.

Conclusion: In your life you will face many Red Sea situations, remember when you can’t, God can. Have faith, an overwhelming, unexplainable, undeniable, unquestionable trust in God. Remember:

God knows what He’s doing, trust Him!

God knows your situation, trust Him!

God will never let you down, trust Him!

Maybe today you’re facing a Red Sea. You’re afraid, you’re confused, you feel like life is out of control and there is nothing you can do to fix what your’re facing. God can. Is that you today? WOuld you raise your hand this morning in witness that this is you?

Maybe today your whole life is a mess and the only thing that can fix it is turning it over to JEsus. Maybe you’ve never put your trust in HIm as your Savior. I have great news, you can do that right now!