The Red Sea

“Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. ¹⁴ The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

 ¹⁵ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.  Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. ¹⁸ The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

Exodus 14:13-18

I have never questioned the miracles that Jesus performed on earth or that the world was once destroyed by a great flood or even that Moses raised a staff and a body of water parted in order for people to cross to the other side. I have never doubted any story I have ever read in the Bible. I believe that God can do anything and that He did do all of the things written but I have spent time questioning why would He want to waste His time on me and my pitiful circumstances.

I do not doubt the power of God but instead I doubt my worth to Him. My circumstances had pretty much left me feeling worthless and thinking that if people around me did not care enough to help me then why would God. It makes me sad to think that I reached a place of feeling this way but I did. Nevertheless, thankfully God does not give up on us as easily as we give up on Him or ourselves. He has repeatedly used my children to remind me of my worth to Him. He has loved me through my storm regardless of my mistakes, my hurt and my anger. He has been right there with me every step of the way even when I felt completely alone. He has not once turned His back on me. That can only come from the love of the one that created me. I understand this kind of love because this is how I love my children and no matter how much they mess up or how angry they make me, I will never turn my back on them.

As God has continually been revealing His kind of love for me, I have begun putting all the other pieces of my life together. I am in the middle of the fight of my life right now. I am fighting pure evil and I have been trying to do it on my own. When we live in the world, it becomes easy to forget that God holds us in His hand. I have to be constantly reminded that once we accept Christ into our lives, we have the ONE fighting for us and with us against the evil of this world. Because of this, we have no need to fear.

Sometimes I find that easier said than done but I have been reading about Moses lately. He was placed into a basket and put into the water because Pharaoh ordered all boys to be killed. He was found and raised as a prince of Egypt. As an adult, he killed a soldier who was beating a slave, which led Moses to flee from his home. He lived in the desert for many years until the Lord spoke to him through a burning bush, giving him instructions to free his people from slavery. As I was reading about Moses, it talked about the way in which God allowed Moses to spend time in the desert in order to prepare him. God knew that Moses would be leading this mass of people through the wilderness and he needed to be prepared for the task set before him. If he had not fled from his home, he would not have spent that time learning the way of the land. Moses may not have had a clue what was coming but God knew. So, as the story goes, Moses told God no at first but in the end, Moses goes to Pharaoh. After a few roadblocks, he led the people out of Egypt but not without the Egyptian army following. The most incredible part of this story to me though becomes that moment when they hit the Red Sea. I had never really thought this one through all the way, because I have always been amazed at the idea of a body of water separating and people crossing through it. Imagine the scene as you are walking between two huge walls of water. What an incredible sight. I digress.

Then Moses and his people hit the edge of the sea with the Egyptians hot on their tails and there is panic. Not surprising but what should they do? Should they try to outrun the chariots or should they try to fight it out like men? Moses answers the people with


“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. ¹⁴ The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Moses told them to be still. There are people chasing after them, ready to kill them and Moses says be still. WOW! “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Every time I read it, I get goose bumps. Read it again. “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Be still and let God fight for me? What a concept. God then tells Moses to raise his staff and the waters will part and that is exactly what happened when Moses did what God asked of him. That same God that protected Moses and his people is here to protect me as well. He will fight for me but I just have to be still. I have to let go of trying to hold on to what I want to happen and give God complete control to do what He has set out to do. He has protected me this far, I have seen and experienced it and so I can be assured that His protection will not end. The Lord will fight for me!