Dear God,
Are You big enough for this?
(Exodus 14 : 10-31)
"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
— Exodus 14:14
The story of Moses
Moses was the son of slaves who was adopted by an Egyptian princess. He was the only Hebrew boy of his age; all the others were drowned in the Nile by Pharaoh’s orders. Moses survived because God had a plan of deliverance for Israel involving him.
Moses fled from Pharaoh after killing an Egyptian who beat a Hebrew. Jethro, a Midian priest, took Moses in and gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage. Moses then led a quiet live as a shepherd…until God met him in a burning bush and sent him back to Pharaoh with a message: Let me people go. Moses reluctantly obeyed.
Moses confronted Pharaoh with God’s message, but Pharaoh would not listen. So God unleashed the ten plagues upon Egypt. After the tenth plague, Pharaoh relented and released the Israelites. After 400 years in Egypt, Jacob’s family now leaves the land as the numerous nation of Israel.
Pharaoh soon regretted his decision. He took his army with him in pursuit of the Israelites. There were chariots and horses, horsemen and troops led by Egyptian officers. Israel became trapped between Pharaoh’s great army and the Red Sea, and the people said to Moses, “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” But there, in the middle of the Red Sea, the world come to know the Almighty God as a mighty warrior.
Discussion Question
Was there an occasion in your past when you were paralyzed with fear? What caused that overwhelming fear?
Imagine that you were among the Israelites facing the Egyptian army at the edge of the Red Sea. Comparing Exodus 14: 11 & 12 to 13 & 14, why do you think the Israelites responded so differently from Moses given that the Israelites, like Moses, they experienced deliverance from the ten plagues and were obedient to God up to that point?
God knew that Israel would be war-shy (see Exodus 13:17), and yet He deliberately led them to encamp in a place where they seemed like easy targets to the Egyptians (see Exodus 14:1-2). Given license for honesty, what do you think of God and His ways?
Read about Jesus in Philippians 2:8 and John 16:33. Just as the Angel of the LORD stood between the armies of Israel and Egypt (and fought for Israel), Jesus stood between us and the world. How is God inviting us to respond in our times of trouble? Or, more specifically, how is God inviting you to respond to your current troubles?
Are you questioning God’s presence in your current struggle? Do you wonder at His ability to overcome? Take a moment to tell it to God in a letter. “Dear, God…”
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.’”
— Psalms 91:1-2
“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”
— Jeremiah 32:17
Prayer
1. Daily Prayer tool
Take 10-15 min. Write these 6 words on a page and honestly write about each, reflecting on the different “voices” in your head. Bring them to God in prayer.
Losses, Anger, Fears
Longings, Joys, Sensing God’s Voice
2. Writing a “Dear God” Letter
This week, continue a letter to God, writing about the question:
“Dear God…Are you big enough for this?”
Name your challenges and ask God how to “be still” in His presence and obey his commands to walk through them
Consider the secondary question:
“Dear God…is your presence in me big enough to give me your life and peace to face my struggles?”