Promised Land: crisis to glory!

When God brought His people out of the wilderness into the land that He promised them, they were in crisis.  Pharaoah's army behind them, the Red Sea in front of them - they were trapped!  They were trapped in the natural, that is.  

They were stuck between a proverbial rock and a hard place with no way out.  

Enter God.

Ever feel stuck?  Do you want escape from a situation from which there simply is no escape?  

Why did God allow this mess to happen to the Jews?  He led them right into it!  He could have confused the troops and sent them off course, but He didn't.  He could have led the Jews another way out of the desert that didn't bring them to the Red Sea, but He didn't.

God had a bigger and better way to reveal Himself to them.  He wanted to show them just how much He could do for them.  He defied the forces of nature because He controls all nature!  

God parted the Red Sea for them to cross through into the Promised Land.  That was an act of God!

Stuck?  God says, "Trust Me.  I have a way out, but it's not the way you think."  (sigh)

Hemmed in around on all sides?  "Trust Me.  I will make your enemies toast on your behalf.  This may include drowning them or any other form I choose for their demise."

What a miracle the Jews got to experience!  There were millions of them!  And they marched right through a sea!

But wait!  There's more!

Not only did God deliver them to the other side, but He let them watch as their enemies drowned in the very sea that was parted just for them.  If that doesn't wow you, nothing will!

So since Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, is He still in the sea-parting business?  You betcha!

It may not be quite as dramatic or literal as the Israelites witnessed, but "part the sea" He will!

In a dry place?  Perplexed at where the Lord has brought you?  You know He's Sovereign, so even if you're in a fix, He brought you there!  Don't grumble and complain against Him like His people did.

Instead, expect a miracle!!!

Was it easy for the Jews to enter the Promised Land?  It was easy for God!  They were totally trapped with no way out.  But God showed them that He is bigger than any crisis - that He even uses the crisis to deliver us!

If the army wasn't behind them, they may not have seen the need for a parted sea.  Maybe they would have walked around it.  Or maybe they would have prayed for a boat to cross it!  Who knows?

Point being that when we are in "trapped" circumstances, the very thing that is goading us along God will use for our deliverance and His glory!

Does every crisis end in glory?  I believe it can with God's help and intervention.  And if not right away, then eventually.

He always knows exactly what He is doing even when it doesn't look like it or feel like it.  Talk about a test of faith!  Our crisis of faith is always bigger than whatever crisis we're facing in our circumstances.  

Will we trust God?  Will we believe God?  What if we expect a miracle from Him but never get it?  

All I know is that He delivered His people.  They didn't drown.  They got to where He wanted them to go.  And He worked His miracle on their behalf.  

Jesus will bring me into the Promised Land in the midst of my crisis, not after.  Yours, too.

So next time we're in a tight spot - an impossible spot - once we stop complaining about it(!), let's look forward to how God is going to deliver us.  

He is a good God.  He is not out to make us suffer for suffering's sake.  He never leaves us or forsakes us.  Ever.

Even when Joseph was left for dead and thrown in jail, he was never forsaken by God.  Others forsook him - his brothers - but not God.  

God brought the Jews through their impossible mess.  God brought Joseph through his impossible situation.

Why not us, too?  Hold on to Jesus.  Hold on to the hope that only He can give.  Trust Him for a way through and out of your mess!  And on the other side, in the Promised Land, boy what a testimony you will have to tell!

Thank You, Lord, that I can always trust You.  When there is nothing but trouble behnd and ahead of me, help me trust You for a miraculous way through, out, up, or over!  Let me see Your miracle-working ways, O God, as You did for Your people at the Red Sea.  And please release me from any real or self-made "prisons" that I am in.  For I need You, Lord, to do what only You can do.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.