Missing Miracles

I am doing a Bible reading plan via YouVersion that will have me read through the entire Bible in 1 year. (Admittedly I am a bit behind but I am trying to catch up.) Today's reading had in me in Exodus, reading one of my favorite stories in the whole Bible. The parting of the Red Sea.

Besides the whole story being amazing, here is the part that stuck out to me and prompted this post:

And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

The Lord said to Moses, “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. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” Exodus 14:13-18

 

So let me set the stage... The Israelites had been in slavery for a really long time in Egypt, hundred's of years. They were horribly mistreated. Through a series of miraculous plagues sent by God upon the Egyptians, the Pharaoh decided to let the Israelites go back to Israel. 

They all set off on a long journey by foot. Literally over 2 million of them. On foot. 2 MILLION. I know how slow going traffic is in Dallas with a few hundred cars so I can't imagine how slow moving 2 over million men, women, children and animals was. Yikes!

Anyway, the Pharaoh changed his mind after they left, and so they got their chariots ready and went after them to bring them back. One would think that 2 million people would be no match for a few hundred men and horses, but I guess that shows the power of the mind when someone else controls it.

The Israelites see the chariots coming and they panic, blaming Moses and saying they should have never left in the first place. You see... they were in a bit of a pinch. Before them was the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh bringing up the rear and closing fast.

In case you were wondering, the Red Sea is big! It's about 220 miles wide at it's widest part and covers over 169,000 sq. miles of land. This was no trivial little body of water to cross and going around was not an option.

So Moses has a little talk with God and what he is told blows my mind. I'm sure it blew Moses' mind too. I really would have like to watch that conversation taking place. I can see Moses appearing to talk with himself and it getting a tad bit animated with lots of hand gestures. I have to imagine there may have been a few "You want me to do what? And you're gonna do WHAT?" type moments. 

God told Moses to put a stick (well staff but still a stick) across the sea and it would part so the people could walk across on dry ground. They didn't even have to worry about mud!

In case you are visual like me, here is my favorite video clip from The Prince of Egypt movie that shows this scene play out.

Anyway, it got me thinking. What if Moses had listened to the Israelites and not believed God could save them? What if this miracles never had happened because of the doubt in their minds. Because they couldn't wrap their human brains around the fact that God controls everything, even the seas, and is faithful to deliver us in times of trouble.

They would have missed one incredible miracle!!

How many times in our lives do we miss miracles that God is willing to do on our behalf because we can't wrap our little human brains around the fact that our God is big enough to part seas for us?

How many miracles have we missed because we stop trusting and taking action when we hear God ask us to do something that seems impossible and forget that HE will make a way if we will just believe?

That is my challenge to myself and to all of you today. Believe God when you hear Him asking you to step out in faith. Take action. Move forward and get ready to watch God in action.

History shows us that when we get out of the way, are obedient and take action as led by the Lord, that what we see Him do will blow our minds!

PS - If you are wondering if this is just some story found in a book that was made up, Google it. They have actually found pieces of chariots at the bottom of the Red Sea. How awesome is THAT! What evidence of God's miracles will they find in your life when they look at it year from now?