"THE GOD WHO CAN OVERCOME DIFFICULTIES!"

EXODUS 14:9-22

Perhaps you heard about 16 year old John Thompson of Hurdsfield, N.D. He was home alone working on the family farm when his arms got caught in the equipment, amputating both near the shoulder. In one instant his life was radically changed. One moment a healthy 16 year old farm boy, the next a double amputee facing a horrendous difficulty. We see Moses and Israel in the text facing a 2-pronged difficulty that, in their eyes, was seemingly insurmountable. But the situation holds some vital lessons for all of us as we consider the God who can overcome difficulties. What can we learn?

• EVEN GODLY PEOPLE FACE DIFFICULTIES: V9:
• Here they were, fresh out of Egypt, full of hope, envisioning a new life in a new land, free from oppression and slavery. And then, like waking up from a dream too-good-to-come-true, they were cast into despair!
• The Egyptians, hot in pursuit, were closing in from the rear.
• The Sea, deep and wide, was in front of them.
• Their situation was not unique. Note the catalog of others who, though Godly, faced great hardships:
• Job suffered great loss of family, fortune, health, reputation, support of his wife, and endured the derision of so-called friends.
• Queen Esther had to deal with the survival or destruction of her Jewish people as she took her life into her hands to approach the king unbidden.
• Nehemiah who wanted to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem faced the opposition of enemies to his cause.
• Elijah was harassed and hounded by Ahab and Jezebel.
• Jesus Christ faced unbelief, resistance to His claims, false accusations, the defection of friends and the cross.
• The apostles faced Jewish opponents and Roman persecutions.
• Never buy into the claim that because you are a Christian God will shield you from all opposition, or difficulty, or loss, or grief. There are certain to be things that could be called difficulties. So, what are some difficulties, or tribulations, we may face? Let me merely mention 3 that are universal:
• There are painful circumstances and harsh realities in life:
• Loved ones die.
• Friends forsake.
• Jobs are lost.
• Health fails.
• Our greatest plans and dreams shatter and become nothing.
• There are many temptations to sin:
• To be untrue to our marital covenant.
• To pander to every sensual desire and appetite.
• To hide our side income from the IRS.
• To cheat and lie and scheme and shade the truth to suit our own purposes and to gain our own advantage.
• To give uncontrolled vent to our anger and frustration.
• All these are summed up by John as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life. 1 John 2:16.
• There are broken and difficult relationships:
• Sometimes we nurture grudges that become festering resentments destroying our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health.
• Sometimes we encounter hostile, trying and vexatious people and we have to contend with them on a daily basis.
• These difficulties can become obstacles to our progress in Christ if we let them. So Moses and Israel with him were beset by the difficulty coming from behind, and the difficulty of the sea ahead. You might say they were caught between the devil and the deep Red Sea.

As Israel faced a difficult time, John did, too. He had just suffered the loss of both arms. He was home alone. But he did not just lie down and die! He made his way to the house and somehow managed to get in, and with his teeth lifted the receiver, and with a pencil dialed 911. Then he went and sat in the bathtub so he wouldn't ruin his mother's carpet! When the paramedics arrived they were stunned. John kept his calm and told them where to retrieve his arms and where there was ice in which to pack them. He faced the difficulty, called for help and did what needed to be done in face of it. So Moses was to do something as Egypt closed in from behind and the sea blocked their passage to the front. Here's another lesson for us as we face our difficulties.

• WHEN DIFFICULTIES COME WE MUST PRAY AND THEN ACT: V15:
• God's question was in no way intended to quench prayer. But prayer had been raised and now it was time to do something. Someone said, and it is true, "You cannot do more than pray until you've prayed, but you must do more than pray once you have prayed."
• Christianity is a working partnership with God and we have our part to perform. Note:
• Philippians 2:12-13 "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."
• 1 Corinthians 3:6, 9 "I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. ... For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building."
• What must we do, what action must we take as God's partners, when faced with difficulties once we've prayed?
• For the harsh realities of life, pray and then:
• Trust the grace of God: Though Paul prayed 3 times for deliverance from some physical ailment, God said, "My grace is sufficient for you."
• Change what you can, legitimately, and to accept with good grace what you cannot change.
• Learn the lessons you can only learn in times of distress.
• For the time of temptation, pray and then:
• Be sober, be alert, submit to God and resist the devil firm in your faith. James 4:7 and 1 Peter 5:8-9.
• Determine to exercise self-control over the flesh.
• Resolve to be a person of integrity, honesty, uprightness.
• Refuse stubbornly to compromise your convictions or to take a moral, ethical shortcut.
• For broken and difficult relationships, pray and then:
• Determine to be the first to seek reconciliation! That means:
• be humble enough to offer apology if you have offended or to accept apology if you were wronged.
• be ready to reconcile even if your apology is shunned, and to forgive even if no apology is forthcoming.
• Absolutely refuse to nurture any grudge and deny yourself the luxury of redressing any slight or offense you may have suffered.
• So Moses and Israel needed to pray and then to move beyond just praying to action: Move forward!

John took action in the face of his difficulty. He called for help, and then did what he needed to do. Because of his cool head and quick thinking, the paramedics were able to find his arms, and doctors in Minneapolis were able to reattach them. Had he just stood there bleeding, he would have died. Had Moses and Israel stood there crying, frozen in their tracks, they would have perished. But when they did what they were told to do, God did the rest. Here is another lesson for us as we consider the God who can overcome difficulties.

• WHEN WE'VE ACTED IN OBEDIENCE, GOD DEALS WITH THE DIFFICULTIES: V21:
• Moses lifted his rod, God divided the sea. That He used the winds is no less miraculous. If He can still them, He can stir them!
• God is still a God of miracles. Nothing is too difficult for Him; all things are possible; no purpose of God can be thwarted! What God:
• Wills, He works!
• Desires, He does!
• Purposes, He performs!
• When it seems that He's forgotten, He has not! When it seems that it's hopeless, it is not! When it seems that we're doomed, we are not!
• It is still true:
• He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us! Ephesians 3:20.
• God still says it: "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?" Jeremiah 32:27.
• Jesus still affirms it: "with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26.
• It still stands: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28.
• The promise is still valid: "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:13.
• And it still holds firm: "If God is for us, who is against us?" Romans 8:31.
• So, praying and acting in obedience, Moses and all Israel were able to cross on dry land where there had only been an obstacle before.

When you face the difficulties of life, many of them of your own making, cry out to God and then act in obedience to His word. He will make a way. If not through the obstacle, over or around it. Nothing can long block the one who walks God's way. Sometimes the answer seems long in coming, but delay is not denial. God's time is not our time; His ways are not our ways. What He allows to come into our life, He will ultimately use for our good though right now we feel as if we are hounded by Egypt from the rear and hindered by the sea in front. You can do one of two things when difficulties come: You can lament your state and blame God and face it alone, or you can cry out to Him and then move forward in faith. God is able, and God cares! Those fundamental truths can cause us to face whatever comes our way in confidence. Bring Him your burdens. Bring Him your bitterness. Bring Him your fears and anxieties. Bring Him your sin and guilt and shame. These difficulties of life can be overcome if we bring them to Him in faith. Jesus has already taken upon Himself our heaviest burden, the load of our sin. All of our other concerns can be safely rolled onto Him as well. Come to Jesus, come to Calvary and find deliverance, freedom and relief. Come to the God who can overcome all your difficulties and He will see you through.

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