There are many ironies in life and one of them is our ability and propensity to see God do amazing things in our lives one day and the next to go back to our prior way of doing life. It is why we can find ourselves moving back into our comfort zone, back to sin that we struggle with, or to move away from God at certain times of our lives.

This is the story of the parting of the Red sea in Exodus 14, shortly after the Israelites had left Egypt. Remember that Pharaoh had told them to leave and the Egyptians had showered them with all kinds of wealth, gold, precious stones and what was considered wealth in that time. That was all God’s doing. It was amazing and all God.

But, Pharaoh was a fickle guy and it wasn’t hours after they left that he said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them...so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. The Egyptians - all Pharaohs horses and chariots, horsemen and troops - pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.”

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!”

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. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

We have an endless capacity to question God, live in fear, and even go back to our comfort zones. How ironic that the Israelites now complain to Moses that he had led them out of Egypt. With all that God had done, now they wished they had never come.

You can read the account in Exodus 14 but you may well have heard the story of the parting of the Red Sea, saving the Israelites from Pharaoh and destroying the army of the Egyptians when the wall of water washed over them.

Here is the lesson we need to remember. The same God who calls us and makes a way for us will take us through the worst challenges we face and bring us out the other side. As Paul says, in Philippians 1:6, “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”  He did it for the Israelites and he will do it with us. In fact, He may be doing it right now in your situation. Trust Him, follow Him and allow Him to do what only He can do.

Father, thank you that I can trust you in all circumstances. Thank you that what you start in my life you finish. Give me faith in the hard times to allow you to do what only you can do. Give me faith and trust. Amen.

If you are reading through the book of Exodus, consider reading chapters 13, 14 and 15.