A Sunday message...

Today, I am home sick with my younger son. We decided to worship with the Peoples Church this morning via their TV telecast Living Truth. Their pastor, Charles Price gave a wonderful exhortation to us, "Be still, and wait for the deliverance of God." Please go to their site to download the full sermon if you wish.

Here are some of the main principles he outlined using the Israelites deliverance from Egypt and journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, as a parallel of our walk with Him:

“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The LORD will fight for you. You need only to be still.”
Exodus 14:13-14
  The Israelites have marched boldly out of Egypt. Led by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, they followed the route God had marked for them. Three times, God had affirmed He would bring them out of Egypt to bring them into Canaan and naturally, they expected a smooth, straightforward journey.

BUT the route God had mapped out was not as the crow flies.
In fact, it was a route that had confused, frustrated and even angered them.

From this story, Author and Bible teacher, Charles Price, focused on three things we can learn about God that are immensely relevant to our lives today.

1. God will lead by unpredictable roads.

2. God will lead us into unexpected battles.

3. God will lead with unpredictable resources.



God had led them by unpredictable roads.
  Pharaoh had, once again, changed his mind. He went in pursuit of the Israelites. The pillar of cloud led the Israelites right onto the bank of the Red Sea. Too deep to wade through, too wide to bridge over and too long to go around, they were stuck. Here, they face their first big crisis which quickly grows by the hour. They cannot cross the Red Sea and while grumbling to Moses about it, they face their second crisis. In the distance, they see the silhouette of the Egyptian army hot on their trail and that precipitated their third crisis. The people were terrified and they panicked.

The moment we face a crisis in life we are usually inclined to think, “Oh, man. We were better off before,” and this is exactly what the Hebrews thought. They grumbled bitterly to Moses, blaming him and Moses replied, “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 be still.”

God will lead us on unpredictable roads but they are also reliable roads because God always knows what He’s doing. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9.

Secondly, God will not only lead us on unpredictable roads but into unexpected battles. Being in the will of God, allowing Him to direct our paths, does not exempt us from problems. Problems never frighten God. They frighten us but we are to stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will bring. We need only stand still and trust Him.

Many people get frustrated and irritated, hearing that we’re leaving our problems to God. “Do something,” they say but God has promised, ‘I AM WHO I AM’, present tense, totally sufficient in any situation and I will do it. If we are going to live effectively with God, there are two essential things we need to stand firm in. We obey what He says and trust who He is. God used the first problem of the Red Sea holding back the Israelites to destroy the second problem of the Egyptian army in pursuit, which resolved the third problem of their panic and fear.

God will lead us onto unpredictable roads, into unexpected battles and the third point God will lead with unlimited resources. The LORD said to Moses, “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.” Exodus 14:16.


The pillar of cloud that had been leading the Israelites moved behind them, blocking the Egyptian army from further approach. All night long, Moses held the ‘Staff of God’ over the Red Sea and with a strong east wind, God drove the sea back. When the sun broke on the eastern sky, the waters were divided and the Israelites went through on dry ground. The Egyptians followed but God threw their army into confusion and made the wheels of chariots fall off. He told Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea again and at daybreak, the water flowed back, swallowing the Egyptian army, chariots, horses and all. Not one survived.

It wasn’t Moses who freed the Hebrews, but God in Moses’ shoes. This was God’s business, God’s agenda, God’s battle and so it is in our own lives when we turn our problems over to God. We may not be relieved from tensions but we do experience an underlying peace as we rest in God’s sufficiency as Moses did. There are good reasons for every route God takes us on. Proverbs 16:9 says:

“In his heart man plans his course, but the LORD directs his steps.”

Let us trust Him together today.

Our God reigns.