GOING INTO THE NEW YEAR WITH GOD – PART TWO
We are continuing with: Going into the New Year With God. And our text is still from Exodus 14. Last time we saw how God delivered Israel from the slavery in Egypt and made them the Prince of God that they were. And then as He was leading them we saw that they faced obstacles on the way.
For those who think that because God is leading we would never face any obstacles: That is not true. Jesus said, In the world you will have trouble or tribulations; but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. This New Year, there will be some obstacles; in this New Year, there will be some obstacles. But as long as God is leading us, we are sure to be victorious.
We stopped with the kind of obstacles that Israel faced. The immaterial obstacle was pharaoh’s temperamental attitude. The material obstacle was the impassable Red Sea. Now today we want to see how they reacted to the obstacles.
The reactions to the obstacles:
When you are moving forward with God, who is with you in this new year, and meet impossible and impassable obstacles, just take note of what we are about to discuss now.
Number,
- We have mixed bad or fear faith and faultfinding. That is the wrong way to approach your obstacles. In Exodus 14:10-12,
EXODUS 14:10-12
10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”
Israel was afraid and rightfully so because of the real imminent danger they faced. Death was staring them in the face. Let us not forget that they had their families with them. Death is easier to handle if it comes asking for you and not for you along your entire family – and a gruesome death for that matter. But they responded properly when they cried to God. For this I give them credit for having faith in God. But unfortunately, their faith was short-lived for no sooner they had cried to God than they started to find faults with Moses. In verse 12, they preferred perpetual slavery to death.
Friend, whatever you do, don’t choose perpetual bondage to sin over death except you are not sure you are going to heaven.
- The second response to the obstacle. This second response was a reassuring and unwavering faith in God on the part of their leader Moses.
Verse 13 of Exodus 14,
Exodus 14:13
13 And Moses said to the people,”Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more (forever).
Such a faith banishes away fear. Such a faith sees the deliverance or the removal of obstacle before even it takes place. Such faith sees the obstacle as one of those things that will come to pass for good. Finally, such faith does not give bogus and unscriptural assurances.
Listen to what Moses said: For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. Moses did not say, for the enemies you see today. That would be bogus. They were yet to see more enemies. But he was specific: ‘The Egyptians you see today’. He was particular! The Egyptians you see today! We are going to be history soon.
Why were the enemies of Israel the Egyptians finally annihilated – completely destroyed? The God that was restoring Israel is the God who moves those He has restored forward. He is The God who fights for them.
Your obstacle will become a stumbling block instead of a stepping stone, except you let God fight for you. Your enemies that should be past tense will continue to be present tense except you permit God to fight for you. You and I are weak. We cannot match the devil’s weapons; but with the trust we have in God, Satan will be no match for our God. Speaking of Israel’s eventual conquest of Canaan, Joshua in Joshua 10:42 says,
Joshua 10:42-43
42 All these kings and their land Joshua took at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel.
“The battles I have lost are the ones I fought myself instead of allowing God fight for me.”
As God leads you this year He wants you to keep going forward – your obstacles notwithstanding. That is what we find in Exodus 14:15 and 16. And you will keep going forward because:
- Your obstacle is no obstacle with God. He does not see your obstacle as an end but as a means to an end.
- God said to Moses, Stop talking to me, talk to Israel instead. Tell them to go forward. There is a time to talk to God, that is prayer; there is a time to talk to ourselves, that is exhortation; and there is a time to talk to myself: that is self-talk.
The Psalmist says in Psalm 42:6, 11:
Psalm 42:6,11
6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From the Hill Mizar.
[this is talkin to God]
Verse 11: [talking to self:]
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.
Self-talk! We need that kind of talk from time to time. Israel did not see it but Moses saw. And that is the difference between the leader and the led.
Let me share this final secret with you before we close for the day. Give God what is in your hand; no matter how insignificant He can turn it into obstacle-moving instrument. Give God what is in your hand. God said to Moses, in Exodus 14:16,
Exodus 14:16
16 But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
And that was what happened. How did it happen? The rod! A mere rod. But in the hand of God, it became a miracle-working instrument. Let us move forward with God this year, He will take care of our obstacles if only we would stop blaming each other and look up to Him who is committed to moving us forward.
Let us pray!
PRAYER
Our Father, we would move forward this year, looking up to You, trusting You. No obstacle the enemy would bring our way will succeed in stopping us as long as You lead us. Help us to follow you closely…in Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen!