Exodus 14:10-12 says “As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
Brethren, unexpected challenges are usually frustrating, and it is to be admitted that, though we may be Christians or people of faith, sometimes, we may say things out of frustration when we are hit the hardest by unforeseen difficulties.
But in this sermon for the week, I write to encourage all of us that, in times of trouble, though difficult, we must strive to show a certain maturity that doesn’t come cheap, by refusing to make disparaging remarks that shows hopelessness. We must always remember the hand of God on our lives and His previous acts of interventions and blessings on our lives and allow these to make us confident that He will see us through our current challenges.
The mighty hand of God had worked to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. The many miracles that occurred left the Israelites and even the Egyptians in no doubt that God was with His people. For example, an angel of God and a pillar of cloud and fire guarded the multitude; bitter waters were made sweet and drinkable; manna rained from heaven to serve as bread and quail were sent to provide meat; water came from a rock; Moses’ raised his hands to allow the Israelites to prevail over Amalek; and
God spoke from the mountain at Sinai. It was therefore not possible that the God who had fled the Israelites from Egypt was going to allow the Israelites to be captured again by the Egyptians. Therefore, there was absolutely no basis for the hopeless comments the Israelites made when they saw the Egyptians chasing after them.
Beloved, judging by how God has been with us from our infancy and protected us, there is absolutely no basis for us to think He’s gonna allow us to be submerged by current challenges that confront us. If He did it for us in the past, then He expects us to trust that He will do it for us today.
Fortunately, Moses wasn’t angry about the comments of the people. He assured them that God will fight for them and truly, God did, by opening the sea for them to go through and closing it for the enemies to be drowned. None of the enemies survived and in verse 31, the Bible said, “when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant”.
You see? After all the miracles, God had to do another miracle again for them, before they trusted Him. But this betrays spiritual immaturity and unfortunately we are all guilty this. May the past successes and blessings of God on our lives strengthen our trust in God and may our trust in God not fail in the face of challenges. But should our faith be shaken by challenges, may God grant us a Moses who will psyche us up to strengthen our faith in the midst of difficulties. May the Lord who saw us through our challenges in time past, see us through current challenges to increase our faith and trust in Him.
Source: newsthemegh.com