When God Makes a Way

Exodus 14:13–14 (ESV)

“And Moses said to the people, ‘Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.’”

Exodus 14 is one of the most dramatic chapters in the Bible.

Israel has been delivered from Egypt. They have walked out after generations of slavery. God has shown His power through the plagues, preserved them through the blood of the lamb, and led them forward by His presence. But now they find themselves in what looks like an impossible situation.

The Red Sea is in front of them. Pharaoh’s army is behind them. There is nowhere to go.

And immediately, the people begin to panic. They cry out to the Lord, and then they turn on Moses. They ask why he brought them out of Egypt just to die in the wilderness. In their fear, they start believing that slavery in Egypt would have been better than dying in freedom.

That is what fear can do.

Fear can make bondage look safer than obedience. Fear can make the past look better than it really was. Fear can make us forget what God has already done. Israel had just seen the strong hand of the Lord, but now, standing between the sea and the army, their fear is louder than their memory.

And Moses speaks one of the clearest words of faith in the entire story.

“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord.”

Moses does not tell them to pretend the army is not there. He does not tell them to ignore the sea. He does not minimize the danger or act like the situation is not serious. He simply calls them to look beyond what is surrounding them and trust the God who is leading them.

There are moments when the most faithful thing you can do is not run, not panic, not turn back, and not try to force your own solution. Sometimes the call is to stand firm and watch God work. That does not mean passivity. It does not mean laziness. In fact, just a few verses later, God tells Moses to tell the people to go forward.

But before they move forward, they have to stop letting fear lead them backward.

I remember when the pandemic hit and our church opened back up for the first time. Our attendance had dropped down to just a handful of people. In that moment, it looked like the church we had planted and sacrificed so much for might have to shut its doors.

That was a Red Sea kind of moment.

What was behind us felt heavy. What was in front of us felt impossible. There were questions, fears, and real uncertainty. It would have been easy to look at the room, look at the numbers, look at the circumstances, and assume the story was over.

But God was not finished.

Over the next couple of months, the church began to grow again. But even more than that, something deeper happened. I grew. The church grew. Not just numerically, but spiritually. There was a deeper dependence on the Lord, a deeper clarity of mission, and a healthier foundation being formed in us.

What looked like it might stop the church became one of the places where God changed the trajectory of the church.

And that is what Exodus 14 reminds us.

Sometimes God brings us to places where we do not have the resources to fix it, the strength to force it, or the visibility to understand it. We can see what is behind us and what is in front of us, but we cannot yet see the way through. And in those moments, fear will tell us to turn back. Fear will tell us that obedience was a mistake. Fear will tell us that God brought us this far just to abandon us.

But faith remembers.

Faith remembers the lamb. Faith remembers the strong hand of the Lord. Faith remembers the pillar of cloud and fire. Faith remembers that if God brought us out, He is able to lead us through.

And when God moves in Exodus 14, He does what only He can do. He places the pillar of cloud between Israel and Egypt. He turns the sea into dry ground. He makes a way where there was no way. The people walk through the midst of the sea, with water like a wall on their right and on their left.

What looked like the end became the path of deliverance.

That is the God we serve.

He is able to make a way when we cannot see one. He is able to protect His people when the enemy is close behind. He is able to turn impossible places into testimonies of His power. He is able to take the very thing that looked like it would stop you and use it as the place where His salvation is displayed.

So today, if you feel trapped between what is behind you and what is in front of you, do not let fear rewrite the story.

Stand firm.

Look to the Lord.

Take the next step when He says move.

The same God who parted the sea for Israel is still able to make a way for His people today.

Because what looks impossible to us is not impossible for Him.

Prayer

Lord, thank You that You are able to make a way where there seems to be no way. Help us not to let fear lead us backward or cause us to forget what You have already done. Teach us to stand firm, trust Your salvation, and move forward when You call us to obey. Remind us that You fight for Your people and that nothing is impossible for You. Use even the moments that look like endings to deepen our faith, strengthen our dependence, and display Your power. In Jesus’ name, amen.