When We Encounter Obstacles

My favorite scene in the film Prince of Egypt is the lightning that revealed the whale swimming next to the people of Israel as they walked on dry land through the Red Sea. I want to believe that they were filled with wonder and amazement at the miraculous work of God, especially after witnessing all of the plagues God inflicted on Egypt. While some of this may have been true, we also have to take into account other factors. They left their homes at a moment’s notice, and even though God was leading them to his Promised Land, they didn’t fully understand his plan for them or how they would survive. The Egyptians who had enslaved them for generations were pursuing them on chariots, and they found themselves trapped between the army of Egypt and the Red Sea. We see how they were experiencing everything when 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!’ (Exodus 14:11-12)

But then God says this to Moses, like it was the obvious thing to do:

‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. (Exodus 14:15-16)

When he is leading us, he will likely put us in situations where we’re afraid and feel insecure, and see no way through the obstacles in front of us. In these situations, we must remember his faithfulness to us and his care for us, and we must remember that he desires to lead us into his best for us. We must also remember that if he is leading us, whatever obstacles we see that cause us anxiety do not cause God anxiety because he knows the way through.