Picture this, there’s a wall in front of you. Behind you is a past you are running from. The other side of the wall is the promise of a new life. But, there’s a wall that stands between you and this promised new life. You feel trapped. No way out. This is just the sort of situation in which the Israelites found themselves and it is also the place that God does some of his finest work!!
The Israelites were in a place where behind them was a life of back-breaking work and slavery. Ahead of them was a life in the land of Promise. Behind them was the fierce army of a fanatical Pharaoh coming towards them. Ahead of them was a “wall” made of water.
Your “wall” may be a fear of failure. Or maybe it’s a lack of confidence that has grinded your progress to a halt. Or it could merely be too many problems that have piled up in front of you at the same time. And you have no clue which one to tackle first.
So, you stopped. And you aren’t sure if there is a way over, around, or under this imposing obstruction.
This is the often the time that we panic and anxiety sets in and it’s not long before we’re paralyzed and our eyes, which once could the promise, can now only see the “wall.”
That’s all the Israelites could see so they turned to Moses and began belting him with blame! Have you ever done that? Have you ever found yourself in a really bad place and your response to that was to blame everyone else? Blame the boss. Blame a co-worker. Blame your spouse. Blame God. Maybe even blame yourself? Blame all you want but the wall remains.
While the Israelites were body punching Moses, Moses chose to look at something (someone) different. His options? He could have looked at the enemy’s army. He could have looked at the ungrateful people he led. He could have looked at the wall of water spread out before him, sat down, and given up.
Instead, Moses looked up! He looked to God. And God opened an unlikely route through the wall of water and they safely walked across to the other side. The very wall that had halted their steps closed in on and covered the sources of their fears.
The very name of the book where we find this story serves as a reminder when we face our “walls.” “Exodus” is a compound Greek word meaning “the way out.” And in case you might have missed it, the way out was not a better job, a different spouse, or a victim mentality.
No, the way out is God. Next time you find yourself up against a wall try looking to him.
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