From hopeful to hopeless. How quickly everything changed. When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, they likely felt great joy and anticipation. Whatever fears they had concerning the unknown ahead of them, they must have felt exhilaration over leaving the oppression of Egypt and heading toward the Promised Land. It wasn’t long however until their excited hopes were quashed. They found themselves trapped with the Red Sea before them and Pharaoh’s army closing in behind. Suddenly, their situation was hopeless. They were terrified. They could see no way of escape. And furthermore, the Lord had led them here. Previous doubts and fears resurfaced and they even questioned leaving Egypt at all.
God put them on this route. He intended to accomplish His purposes. From a human perspective, it was an impossible situation. But the Lord parted the waters. The Israelites marched to safety on dry ground. The Lord dealt with their enemies–first holding them back, then throwing them into confusion, and finally destroying them. (The story is recounted in Exodus 14)
The writer of Psalm 77 dealt with his own discouragement by looking back at some of the mighty things God had done in the past. He recalls the Red Sea incident. God opened a path through the sea–a path no one knew was there until He revealed it. Moments before God opened the way, the Israelites couldn’t see a way out of their hopeless situation. They wished they had stayed in Egypt, apparently forgetting the hardship they experienced there. But God had a way planned all along. He knew He would create a path through the sea.
Remembering who God is and what He has done in the past nudges our mind away from feelings of despair over whatever we may be facing in the present.
Often in life we face situations that feel hopeless–no job and the rent is due; a terminal illness robs us of peace; a relationship is destroyed by betrayal or misunderstanding. We see no solution. We can’t conceive of any way through. But it is only impossible from our viewpoint. Nothing is impossible with God. He is powerful and creative. Just because we can’t see a solution, doesn’t mean there isn’t one
When we face a giant problem, if we focus only on the problem itself all we can see is the enormity of it. When we look at the problem through the lens of Who God is, we are reminded He is bigger and more powerful than anything that troubles us. Moses counseled the Israelites to stand firm, and they would see the deliverance the Lord would bring. He said the Lord would fight for them. And when the Lord told them to move forward, the waters were still raging (Exodus 14:15,16). They had to move forward by faith.
God’s ways are not our ways. His road for us may lead us through mighty waters. When we don’t see a way forward, He does. He will be faithful to either part the waters or otherwise keep us from drowning (Isaiah 43:2). Our part is not to focus on the mighty waters, but on our mighty God.
Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters–a pathway no one knew was there. Psalm 77:19 NLT
Blessings,
Phyllis
I would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment below.
Image by Asa Childress from Pixabay
Copyright 2023 Phyllis L. Farringer
Look back at the mighty things God has done in the past. Amen!
Thank you, Phyllis!
Thank you, Debby
Looking back at times of God’s deliverance, mercy, grace, lovingkindness, and compassion; these attributes, and many others, were present then, are present now and wiil be present tomorrow and forever.
Phyllis, thank you. Your posts are inspiring.
Thank you, Kathy
I can see this from just finishing reading Numbers.
Thank you, George