Week 27: Day 2

Intro: Hi guys, welcome to Orbit. My name’s Naomi, and I’m a pastor based in East London. Yesterday we started reading Exodus 14, and had a think about asking God for help when we’re feeling scared.

Bible: Today we’ll be continuing from verse 13. So why don’t we read today’s passage, have a pray, and think about some practical things that we can do in the day ahead? Today’s passage is Exodus 14:13-16 and 21-22.

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. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.’

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.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

Thoughts: I wonder if this is a story you’ve heard before – Moses parting the red sea, to lead the Israelites into the promised land. Maybe you’ve even seen movie like the Prince of Egypt. But what you might not have realised is that God split the sea DIRECTLY it in response to the worried cries of His people. Because as Moses says “the Lord will fight for you; you need only be still.” And so God performed a miracle through Moses. As Pharoah’s army run after them in big, ornate chariots, armed to the hilt, God split the sea in half so that everyone could walk through to safety. And He saved them from the hand of the Egyptians!

But that’s skipping to the end of the story – because in that first moment the Israelites didn’t feel safe at all, they couldn’t see how anyone could help them out of their predicament. So often when we hit out at people or get scared or frustrated it’s because we can’t quite see the bigger picture. We can’t work out what’s going on. But God sees the bigger picture. God sits above time and space, and already knows the outcomes of the things we’re worried about. Even with all that knowledge he still speaks to us with kindness and patience. And so he tells the people, through Moses, to just be still, don’t do a thing. He’s got it from here! And he does, he has a whole plan.

And because God is so kind, he doesn’t just do things to us, but he lets us work them out together. And so the seas don’t just part, but Moses has to take a leap of faith, he has to hope that if he follows god’s instructions it will actually work! And it does. I wonder is there something right now that you need a boost of faith for? A question you’ve got, or a dream that feels like it could never be real. I wonder if God wants to help you believe in it, and bring it into being. Because God did what he said he would for Moses, and God can do the same for you.

Prayer: So why don’t we pray? And there are two things we can pray for today. The first is that God would give us eyes to see, eyes that realise the bigger picture when things around us get challenging. The second is that God would give us faith, faith to take risks and believe that He is going to come through for us. God would you fill us with your spirit, that we will see through your eyes, and believe that nothing is impossible for you. Amen!

Challenge: I’d love to encourage you to ask God to build your faith – maybe put on a worship song that will help you to sing some truths about God.

Outro: Thanks for joining in today, we’ll be back tomorrow with another Orbit.