Message: God knows about the things pursuing after us in life and is often the one setting them up. Israel was frightened when they realized the Egyptians were hot on their tail pursuing them to take them back to slavery and they immediately resented Moses for giving them the hope that they could be free because the familiarity of their slavery felt more comfortable than the unknown terror of being pursued. They had no idea that God had set this whole thing up to destroy the armies of Egypt and make himself known.
Command: Don’t assume our circumstances are a surprise to God. They are a surprise to us because we don’t know or understand the larger plan.
Promise: By the time we’re aware that we’re in hot pursuit, God is already way ahead of us!
Warning: Don’t assume that just because we are suddenly aware of trouble that we have to fill God in on the details and hope he’ll move.
Application: I really saw myself in this and even as I prayed through it I laughed as I told God that even though I’m aware that he’s already waaaaaay ahead of me, that talking it out with him reminds me that he has invited me in to partner with him. I need to talk it out with him so he can fill me in on the plan, rather than me trying to fill him in on my panic scenario and pitch my plan ideas to him. Israel was well on their way to freedom from years of oppression but when they realized they were being pursued they panicked, cursed Moses for bringing them out there and wished they were back in bondage in Egypt. This is such a sad state but it’s exactly what we do emotionally when we hit opposition. God not only knew this was happening, but he orchestrated it all for a purpose. He wanted to show Egypt who he was, but he also needed to teach Israel to trust him. The same is true of us. He will use our scary life moments to show others what he can do while teaching us to trust him in it.
