The Red Sea Rules – Part 2

Exodus 14:3-4 3 Pharaoh will think, 'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.' 4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." So the Israelites did this.

The author says this is Rule #2 - Be more concerned for God’s glory than for your relief. Sometimes we can’t find the answers to our dilemmas because we’re asking the wrong questions. Say we’ve been diagnosed with a terminal illness or have a child in crisis or lost all our money. Our natural instinct is to ask: “How did I get into this mess? And how can I get out of it?” Or, “why me?”

These may be natural questions, but they are the wrong ones. The right question results in an entirely new way of looking at our difficulty. The right question is “How can God be glorified in this situation?”

And it changes everything.

In these verses in Exodus we see God deliberately orchestrated these events to demonstrate the power He wields over both His enemies and the elements. He parted the seas and it was written about in the Bible so generations later we know that our God can do anything!

Remember the story in John 7 when Jesus’ disciples met a man blind from birth and they asked, “How did this man get into this situation? Why did it happen? Who sinned, the man or his parents, that he was born this way?” And Jesus told them they were asking the wrong question. That “this man was born blind so that the power of God could be displayed in his life.” Jesus healed him so we would know who Jesus is!

God doesn’t waste suffering. If He leads us into impossible spots, He will deliver us in His own time, in His own way and for His name’s sake. Our job is to say, as Jesus did during the week before he was crucified:

John 12:27-28 27"Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name!"

That is, after all, what our lives are all about. To Him be the glory!

God will deliver His people from every trial and trouble. It may not be my way or your way, but in His own way, He will deliver for His name’s sake. In this Exodus story the Lord intended from the beginning to gain glory for Himself by saving His people at the last minute. If you think about it God often saves us in the nick of time. Just when we think we can’t hang on anymore, He’ll provide an escape route. And His way is the best way. And it leads to worship.

Psalm 50:15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.

Psalm 34:19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;

I think when He gets us through something we need to give Him the credit. To thank Him and tell others what He did.