Exodus 14

The God Who makes a way

The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” ~ Exodus 14:14

Have you ever felt trapped with no way out? Maybe you have faced a situation where every option seemed closed and fear whispered that you would not make it through. What do you do when the problem in front of you looks too big and the pressure behind you feels too strong? How do you respond when your heart wrestles between faith and fear, and you wonder if God has truly led you to this place? Could it be that what looks like an ending is really the place where God wants to reveal His power in a new way?

This was exactly where the Israelites found themselves at the Red Sea. With the Egyptian army pressing in from behind and the water blocking their path ahead, fear gripped their hearts. They cried out and complained to Moses, convinced they would die in the wilderness. But Moses chose faith instead of fear. He reminded the people, “The Lord will fight for you, as you hold on to your peace.” While the people saw death, Moses saw the God who delivers. While they felt abandoned, Moses trusted that God had a plan.

What made the difference is that Moses not only believed God but also followed the direction God gave him. The Lord told Moses to lift up his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea. It was only after Moses did what God said that the waters parted, and the way of escape was revealed. His breakthrough came on the other side of obedience. Moses didn’t ask question or argue with God that it wouldn’t do any good.  Instead, He trusted that God knew what He was doing and choose to be the person God would work through to get the job done. The same is true for us. Faith is not just believing in our hearts but also trusting God enough to follow His leading and having peace while we wait, even when we do not yet see the outcome.

In my own life, I face the decision of fear or faith every day. As I have shared recently about a family struggle I have been dealing with, I often feel the temptation to give up. Each time the situation comes to mind, I have a choice. I can go down the path of fear, imagining what could go wrong, or I can thank the Lord for what I know He is doing, even when I cannot see it yet. I also take time to listen for any direction He may be giving me that will help in this season of waiting. God is working all things together for a good outcome because we love and follow Him. Even though I cannot see the results with my physical eyes, I know that something good is coming and the victory is already ours.

Sure, there have been days when I have wanted to give up. But I keep my mind and heart focused by holding on to God’s promises in His Word that never fails. As I choose to believe His promises, He opens doors I could never open myself. What once looked like a dead end is turning into a testimony of His great faithfulness.

This passage shows us that every Red Sea moment comes with a choice. Will we be like the Israelites, who let fear control their hearts and words, or will we be like Moses, who trusted God and acted on His direction? If Moses had not been willing to do what God told him, the entire nation of Israel would have been crushed by their enemy. The same principle is true in your life. What if the obstacle you see today is actually the stage God has chosen to show His greatest power? What if the trial pressing in on every side is the very place where you will see His deliverance? What if the Red Sea in front of you is not a dead end, but a pathway ready to open as you follow His leading step by step?

Here is how you can get started living in His peace today:

• Pray daily for God to lead you in life’s battles and ask Him to give you peace while you follow.
  • Write down the obstacles that feel impossible and ask, “Am I responding with fear like the Israelites, or with faith like Moses?”
  • Speak God’s promises over your situation, such as Exodus 14:14, reminding your heart that He is your defender.
  • Share your testimony of how God has brought you through past situations to encourage others.
  • Take a step of obedience in faith, even if it feels small, and trust God to open the way before you.

Today I want to encourage you to choose faith over fear and to walk in peace as you follow God’s direction in your Red Sea moments. The same God who fought for Israel is fighting for you today. He has not abandoned you, He has not left you trapped, and He is able to make a way where there is no way. Stand firm, hold your peace, follow His leading, and watch the Lord reveal His power in your life.

Today’s scripture reading: Exodus 14

1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. 

3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ 

4 Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

5 Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 

6 So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. 

7 Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. 

8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness. 

9 So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.

10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. 

11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? 

12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. 

14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

15 And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. 

16 But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 

17 And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. 

18 Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

19 And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. 

20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. 

22 So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 

23 And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

24 Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. 

25 And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” 

27 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 

28 Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. 

29 But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

30 So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 

31 Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.

Journal:

• Where in your life do you feel surrounded or trapped right now?
• Am I responding more like the fearful Israelites or like Moses who trusted God?
• What is one step of faith I can take today to show that I believe God will fight for me?