Day 21 with Moses: The trouble you are facing may not be meant to destroy you, but to empower you.

“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭14:21-23, 26-28, 31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The Lord recently brought a well-known Bible story to my mind and revealed in it something I had not seen before. But first the first story:

Jesus had just finished feeding a multitude with the humble lunch of a little boy. In His hands five loaves and two fish was enough to feed over 5000 men (not counting women and children). Immediately after this the Lord sent the disciples on to cross over the sea. However, he stayed to go up on a mountain and pray. When He was finished praying the disciples were already in the middle of the sea, facing an awful storm. Jesus walks out on the water. Seeing Him, they think He is a ghost and become very afraid. He calls out to them, telling them not to be afraid. Now, when Peter hears the Lord, he does something none of the other disciples did:

“And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭14:28-29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Going further in the story we find that—as Peter became distracted by the turbulence of the storm—he began to sink. But Jesus immediately lifted him up. When they got in the boat the storm ceased.

What the Spirit spoke to me concerning the story was that we must notice that the Lord did not choose a day to line the disciples up on the seashore to give them walking-on-the-water lessons. Rather, He allowed a storm to be the context in which He would show them what He could do, giving them the opportunity to follow suit. Also, take note of the fact that the storm immediately ceased when they got in the boat. So, whether or not the Lord commanded a storm on the sea that night, He certainly used it for their good and His glory.

Nobody wants adversity; to say otherwise would be disingenuous. But what if the only way we can come to understand the power of God, and by extension, what that means for us, is to see His power up close and personal? Wouldn’t we then welcome the storm, knowing what would be the outcome?

Oh, but we may not yet know what the outcome will be. But, the ability to look beyond the scary circumstances to focus on the power and faithfulness of our Lord, should come as we walk in communion with Him, trusting (and seeing) that His word is true.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43:2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?””

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13:5b-6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Today we find Moses facing the Red Sea. Now this predicament was no accident (as we have discussed earlier in our time with Moses). The Lord actually sent them on this particular path. But now—when all hope seems lost—the Lord commands Moses to use his rod to command the waters to part, and they do. Then, when it seemed that the Egyptians were going to be able to use this miraculous event to still be able to apprehend them, the Lord uses Moses to command the water to return to its place. At this point the whole army of Egypt was destroyed in one fell swoop. You see, on that night, the Red Sea was not meant to be the reason the people would be destroyed; rather, it was meant to do a far greater work they couldn’t have even imagined.

For today let us discover what Moses discovered:

The trouble you are facing may not be meant to destroy you, but to empower you.

#40dayswithmoses