5 keys for those in Crisis

Read Exodus 14.

God led His people eastward to the shore of the Red Sea.  There were mountains to the north of them and mountains to the south.  Suddenly, Pharaoh and his advisers see these slaves as wandering aimlessly and boxed in.  Then, the Israelites saw the Egyptian army coming after them with full military force.

There are four perspectives in this account.

1. Pharaoh and the Egyptians had lost their slave labor and were embarrassed.  They wanted to seize what they perceived as an opportunity for some revenge and exercise of their control over Israel.

2. The Israelites feared for their lives.  They had little to no defense against the Egyptian army.  When people are in duress physically, emotionally, even financially, they will blame God and their leaders.  The statements of the people showed no insight into God's leadership.  They blamed Moses for not leaving them alone and not letting them die as slaves in Egypt.  They had no sense that they were in the center of God's will for their lives, or what God was about to do.

3. But these were God's people.  God led them to this place.  This was God's plan all along.  Three times He stated that He will get glory from Pharaoh and the Egyptian army.

4. Moses, as the leader, suffered the brunt of the verbal attacks by the people.  This won't be the last time that the people turn on him when they feel threatened.  He knew he was where God wanted him to be, doing what God wanted done. 

So, in preparation for a miracle Moses delivered a terse and powerful message to people in verses 13-14.

1. "Fear not."  Fear is the opposite of faith.  In crisis, acknowledge your fear.  Fight your fear with faith in the One who brought you this far and has shown Himself faithful to you in the past.

2. "Stand firm."  Recognize the crisis as a test of your character and of your faith.  A crisis is never a test of God and His ability.  So, stand on what you know is right from what God has said in His Word.

3. "See the salvation of the LORD."  There is hope in the LORD.  It will require patience while we wait on Him to act on our behalf.  Faith lives in a continual mode of expectancy.  "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."  (Hebrews 11:1)  "By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as if on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned." (Hebrews 11:29)

4. "The LORD will fight for you."  Joe Sangl is known for saying, "If it is God's will, then it is God's bill."  In other words, if we are His people, in His will, doing what He wants done, we can count fully on Him to meet our needs.  God is trustworthy.  He is working His plan for our lives, even when we cannot see any movement.

5. "Be silent."  In crisis, we may feel the need to initially vent because we are upset or scared.  But we must quickly reach a point where we stop talking about it.  We cannot hear God's voice if we keep interrupting Him.  Some of our prayer time should be meditating on the Word of God and listening to His insights for us.