LORD OF THE IMPOSSIBILITIES: (Exodus 13, 14 )

Day 1:

Exodus 13.
(vs 17,18) God DID NOT LEAD the Israelites on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter.  For God said, "If they FACE WAR, they might change their minds and return to Egypt."  So God LED THE  PEOPLE AROUND by the desert road toward the Red Sea.

In Exodus 13, we see that God LEAD the people to come out from Egypt, to come out from the place of bondage.  The people of Israel were slaves and they had not been trained to fight in war.  They are not ready for war, so when the Lord saw that the shortest road to the promised land is a road that will lead to war with the Philistines, the Lord GUIDE the Israelites the LONG WAY, the AROUND way.

In the same way, in our Christian life, we were in bondage before.  We lived as slaves of the "world", then we finally make it to come out of Egypt (i.e., the "wold").  When we just manage to cross over from bondage into eternal freedom, at that time we are still babies in Christ.  We are not prepared to fight or be in a WAR (i.e., to face very hard problems, trials and temptations).  In the process of fighting, we may loose heart, and decide to run away from the war and go back to Egypt, back into bondage.  God knew that we can not handle it, therefore God LEAD us the LONG WAY, the AROUND WAY.

In 1 Cor 10:13, God promises, "And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear."  God sees everything.  God sees things that we do not see.  Just like the Israelites did not see that there is war in front of them.   God sees if there is a war ahead that we can not handle.  Then, God LEADS us the LONG way, the AROUND way.  But sometimes, we may think that we know better than God, we know that passing the Philistine's is the shortest way to go to the promised land and out of rebellion, we may not choose to follow God.  Friends, it takes FAITH to FOLLOW and OBEY God.  We, in our limited mind, do not see everything that God see.  Do we have the faith to follow God's plan, even when we do not understand?  Even when it seems like God's way is the LONG way and not the shortest way?

At this time, the Israelites chose to obey God by following his direction.  Tomorrow, we shall see their reactions after they chose to follow his direction.

Day 2:

Yesterday we see that the Israelites chose to obey God by following his guidance, his leadership and his direction. Now, the Israelites were on the desert road toward the Red Sea. Then, suddenly they looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified andcried out to the Lord (Exodus 14:10). The Israelites face a life and death situation, they are trapped with mountains on their sides (both left and right), the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh with his army behind them.
The children of Israel were now facing an IMPOSSIBILITIES. There seems to be no way out and let us see how they reacted. Do you think they reacted in faith, especially because they have seen the hand of God thatwas full of power during the ten plague (sepuluh tulah). The Israelites have seen the power of God in their lives. They have seen when the NileRiver's water became blood, they have seen the million of frogs, they have seen the plague of gnats, flies, livestock, boils, hail, locusts,darkness and the death of firstborn child. All of those experience justa while back, not too long ago. Do you think that now the children of Israel will react with faith and full obedience?
Let's see their reaction in Exodus 14:11-12."They 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 that to dies in the desert!"

How soon did they forget? They regretted the fact that they had left Egypt and they regretted that they had chosen to follow God. They said that they would rather serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert.Is the Israelites responding with faith? How did we respond when we are faced with IMPOSSIBILITIES. Do we react with faith, because we are confident that God loves us and He willdeliver us. Or do we react with panic and suddenly forgets all of the miracles that have happened all along the way and suddenly forgets his faithfulness throughout the years. In times like this, do we doubt God's love and God's promise to deliver us? Do we feel like we have toface the impossibilities by our own power and that God would just sitthere, do nothing and ignore our cry?

Day 3:

Two days ago, we have seen that God leads the Israelites the LONG way, the AROUND way to avoid a war, because the children of Israel could not handle this situation. Yesterday, we have seen that God's long and around way leads to a NO way out situation. Mountains on the left andright, Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh in the back. What makes God think that the Israelites could handle this situation. God let theIsraelites to avoid the first situation, but He let them face the second situation.

So why do we have to face trials anyway ? Can we just have a lifewithout trial? Well, God does not design us that way. In I Cor 10:13,God said, ""God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond whatyou can bear.", but the verse does not stop there. It continues with "But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you canstand up under it." God does let us face trials. Trials arenecessary. Why?
1. Every trial that come is a TEST.
2. It is a TEST of your FAITH.
3. The TEST builds our ENDURANCE
4. ENDURANCE builds our MATURITY.

Yes, that is right, only through trial we'll be mature. Just like when we are at school, tests are necessary. We can not just come to class and listen to the teacher. If you are like most students, only when test time come, study time come. Without a test, we won't study. Also,if we look back. When we are on first grade, the first grade tests arevery hard. Then, when we are on sixth grade, the sixth grade are very hard, but six graders can face the first grade test very easy. Now,that we have graduated from college, the six grader test are very easy.We know when a trap is set up by the teacher to fool us to choose the wrong answer. The same way, as we are growing in Christ, we are passing through one test after another to lead us into maturity.

Trial is necessary. Do not loose heart when we are facing trials, for our God that is faithful will not tempt us beyond what we can bear, but when we are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Day 4:

The next two days, we will see how we should handle trials and IMPOSSIBILITIES. The answer is spelled in such a simple way in Exodus14:13-15.
I. When we face trials, DO NOT BE AFRAID (Exodus 14:13). In otherwords, fear not, reject panic. We can choose either fear or faith,panic or confidence. Actually, panic is not a choice that anybody should consider because it does not solve anything. There is nothing that we can solve by being panic.Christians do not have any reason to be afraid. Why? Because:
a. God loves us. This God that loves us also is faithful. He will not give us temptation that is bigger than what we can handle. If there is a temptation on the way that He know we could not handle, then he will lead us the LONG way, the AROUND way.
b. We have God's power. God is a God of miracles; He is a God of the impossibilities.

When we are afraid during trials, for the most part we are only doubting the two truths above. We can say, "My problem is so big, no one cansolve it. Not even God." In other words, we are lead to believe by Satan that our God is not powerful enough (TRUTH #2 above). Now, the next deception is, "I do not doubt that God has the power to deliver me,but will he? After all, I created such a mess for my life. It is Ithat is not worthed, it is I that falls into disobedience with God. Iam the problem, not God." Yes, Satan is the father of deception. He has a resume that spells out 5000 years of work experience in the are of deception. In other words, we are led to doubt God's love and mercy to us. (TRUTH #1 above).

Remember how the children of Israel reacted when they are faced with trials. Immediately, they forget God's love and said, "It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians." We have been seeing that the Egypt represents the "world" with its pleasures, treasures andselfishness. The children of Israel reacted by saying, "I regret following You, God. It would have been better to just follow and serve the "world"." Now, if God can still have mercy with the children of Israel with those kind of rotten hearts, don't you think that He can deal with our impure hearts as well? There is no reason to doubt God's love.

Day 5:

How we should handle trials and IMPOSSIBILITIES?
1. DO NOT BE AFRAID. Exodus 14:13. We've discuss this yesterday.
2. STAND FIRM and you will see the deliverance of the Lord. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:13-14.The natural reaction when we are faced with trials is to run away, but God called us to STAND FIRM. Just like the Israelites were called to stand firm as Pharaoh and his army was coming. To stand firm takes courage and faith. To face trials face to face, to face trials headson, to face trials right on its eye, takes faith and courage. Then, God said that we will see the deliverance of the Lord. The Lord will fight for us, you need only to be still.

God wants us to STAND FIRM and give God the room to operate His plan.We could choose to fight with our own power, but this may just create more mess, because we are on his way. We do not let Him execute His plan. Can you imagine if the Israelites instead of standing firm, theyare running around to try to fight Pharaoh. They will be in God's way in creating a deliverance for them.

Yes, we are called to more than just simply HANGING in there, but to STAND FIRM.

3. Tell them to MOVE ON. (Exodus 14:15). In Christian life, there is only one way, that is to move forward.

It takes faith to not be afraid. It takes faith to stand firm and seeGod's deliverance. It takes faith to move on. But, I am just an ordinary human being, how can I have such a faith?Faith is learned and how you can learn is by experience, hands onexperience. Faith can not be learned by just simply going to church,attending a fellowship or hearing a sermon and leasurely reading the bible. It takes experience. It takes working it out. Faith is just like muscle. We have to work on it. The more we work on it, the stronger it becomes.

Every crisis is on God's calendar; every crisis is on God's schedule.God brings the Israel to the land of despair, to the land where there seems to be no way out. The Red Sea in front of them is a problem tha no one has ever been before, it is so unique to their situation. But,God brings them to the land of despair, so that they can LEARN to depend on God. God delivers them from the land of DESPAIR, to the land of DEPENDENCE.That is how God teaches us to be mature in Christ. God brings us to theland of DESPAIR, so that we can learn to depend on God. We willcrossover from the land of despair, to the land of DEPENDENCE. When theIsraelites looked back into the Red Sea experience, they are filled withjoy and praise. Those times of trials actually brings blessings, encouragement and reminder on God's love, mercy and power.

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Disclaimer
This material is a summary of the message that was preached by Pastor
Jack Graham at Prestonwood Baptist Church. The writer of this EBS
(Electronic Bible Study) made some changes and added some personal notes
that is necessary to customize this material into an electronic media, a
daily reading material and to better fit the audience.
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