Growing Together: Stretching My Faith

Welcome to my new blog series “Growing Together.” In this series, I will share with you what I’m learning in my life at the moment through various situations. This differs from my “Abide in Him” series because it’s not a Bible study, but rather my thoughts about things I believe the Lord is teaching me. My hope is that you find this series encouraging and helpful. Feel free to share with me what you’re going through in the Comments section below so we can encourage each other in our faith in Jesus.

“Walk by faith, not by sight,” (2 Corinthians 5:7). This is what the Lord has impressed upon me these past few weeks as certain situations have shown me the vulnerable spots in my faith. In times where God has made it clear to trust Him, I turned and put my trust in other things. I didn’t purposely and rebelliously put my trust in other things. It was a subtle move made out of habit. I depended on my own knowledge and common sense. But what I’m learning is this: sometimes when things look like they are going against what God has promised, I need to not hold to my own knowledge, but rather have faith in what God has promised. The truth is I don’t know what He’s doing beyond what I can physically see. But trusting Him even though I cannot see what He’s doing is called faith.

This reminds me of the story of the Israelites and their crossing of the Red Sea. Pharaoh and his army surrounded the Israelites on one side and the Red Sea surrounded them on the other. There was no way out. The Israelites, in fear of being slaughtered, accused and blamed Moses of bringing them out to the desert to die.

Can you imagine being stuck between an angry army and a large sea wondering how you were going to escape? I’d like to think I’d put my faith in God, but based upon my recent reactions, I probably would have grown fearful and blamed Moses as well.

Moses, not losing his faith or hope in God replied by saying, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today…The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

The LORD then spoke to Moses saying, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground,” (Exodus 14:13-16; ESV).

When I read this passage, several things stood out to me. First, Moses never lost faith. He knew God would fight for them and save them from the Egyptians. After all, God told Moses in Exodus 3 He was going to bring the Israelites out of Egypt and to the land flowing with milk and honey. The desert was obviously not the land promised to them.

Moses also told the group that all they had to do was stand firm in their faith and stay silent. Why stay silent? Though the passage doesn’t specifically say why, I wonder if it is to stop them from expressing their fear and doubt? He did say to “stand firm in their faith.” By voicing their complaints, they were not standing in faith. Also, I’m reminded of Psalm 46:10 (though it was written long after the exodus, the same principle applies) “Be still and know that I am God.” All they had to do was stay silent and watch God work.

Another interesting point is that God told Moses to tell the Israelites to move forward. Imagine facing the Red Sea and being told to move forward. What do you do? Do you obey or do you wait to see if the LORD is true to His word? To move forward, would require not only obedience, but faith as well. The Israelites chose to obey God and they moved forward. They then witnessed and played a part in one of the most amazing miracles because of their obedience and faith. Faith, at times, requires us to obey first before seeing the proof.

Finally, one other thing I noticed is that when the LORD works, He doesn’t do things half way. He perfectly completes the job. To begin  with, He made sure the Israelites were protected from the Egyptians as they started to cross the sea (see Exodus 14:19-20). They also had dry land to cross when moving through the parted waters of the Red Sea. Lastly, He destroyed the enemy so they could no longer harm the Israelites (see Exodus 14:26-29).

Now, I’m not saying that in every situation we face we should not use common sense or not depend upon what we know. What I am saying is seek the LORD for wisdom and discernment at all times. He is true to His word and His promises. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Faith means we trust God, and it is a crucial part of our relationship with the LORD. We have to remember His ways are not our ways, so things may not look the way we thought they would. They will always work out according to His perfect plan and for His glory though. We only have to walk by faith.

Photo by David Guenther on Unsplash