At this point in the Exodus story, the Israelites have seen God do amazing things. They have seen water turn to blood, swarms of flies, way too many frogs, boils and darkness when it should be light. And they saw God himself spare the lives of their firstborn during Passover. Now they are fleeing from Pharaoh and his army. On one side is the enemy, and on the other is an impassable Red Sea. Throw in a pillar of fire, and I’d say it was quite a spectacle.
In the midst of all of this, Moses tells his people “Do not be afraid.”
How many times has God told me that? There have been countless times in my life when I have been afraid, and none of them like this situation the Israelites are in. When I look back to the darkest times in my life, God always made a way. Every. Single. Time. It may not have been what I was expecting, it may not have even been what I wanted at the time. But God made a way.
The second thing that sticks out to me in these verses is the phrase “you need only to be still”.
When I think back on those same moments when God made a way, I did nothing. It was all God. When I was striving, or trying to take control, or even openly rebelling against what God wanted, I got in the way. I couldn’t see the whole picture, and I didn’t know what God was about to do. When I was finally still and surrendered, God made a way.
The next versus in Exodus 14 Moses raises his staff and the Red Sea splits in two, allowing God’s people to walk through on dry land. God made a way, as he always does.