Move On!

THE LORD SAID TO MOSES, "WHY ARE YOU CRYING OUT TO ME? TELL THE ISRAELITES TO MOVE ON”. Exo 14.15.

Have you ever been in difficult situations with no way out? You can't go forwards; neither can you go backwards! Much like being in a traffic jam. The only difference in a traffic jam is that you are safe though you get nowhere!

The children of Israel, God’s chosen people, were in a deadly fix! The forbidding Red Sea was before them and they couldn’t move forward. The mighty army of the cruel Pharaoh of Egypt was behind them, ready to attack. Want to know what their reaction was? They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. Who wouldn’t? You and I would have done the same. And it was the right thing to do!

But what they did next was shameful. 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? …It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" Do you know what their problem was? They didn’t know God’s plan for them or for the Egyptians, neither did they trust in God's power to help them.

But the man of God, Moses, was told God’s plan beforehand. He knew that God was going to deliver them from that predicament. Hence, Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again”.

In spite of all his faith in God and His promises, Moses kept crying to God along with all the Israelites. He was not ready to act! It was then God told Moses, “Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground”.

Fear paralysed the people and even Moses. They couldn’t move when God intended them to move! Moses had his staff which God had asked him to take with him to work wonders for the people and before the Egyptians (Exo 4.17). He had seen the power of God through his staff many a time. It was now time to act! It is one thing to stand still and see the deliverance of God and yet another to ‘move on and work out that deliverance’. You need to know the difference.

Crying out to God is all right. Having faith in God is fine. But you need to act in faith by the power God has given us. Pray for healing and receive it. Speak against the evil that attacks you. Rebuke Satan who disturbs you. Resist the devil when he tempts you. Make strong intercession for those in distress. Don’t be paralysed by the fear of the problems, however difficult, and do nothing! ‘Move on in faith in your God who is Almighty!’ Only then will seas be divided and mountains depart! That’s the way God works.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, You have given me the faith that moves mountains, divides the seas and uproots trees! Help me Holy Spirit to make use of that faith in the impossible situations of my life and that of others. Amen.