Moses shows what faith looks like - Lessons from Exodus

God separates the waters of Red Sea

Moses shows what Faith looks like

This is the part that everyone seems to know:

The Egyptians are right on the tail of the Israelites. The Israelites are  afraid and doubting that God will deliver them, thinking the Egyptians are going to capture them again. But God tells Moses to bring his staff into the sea, and to command the sea to part. And so Moses does. 

The Bible doesn't say this, but some Jewish oral traditions say that Moses didn't just walk up to the sea and tell it to separate. He walked all the way into the sea- until the water was up to his neck- before the waters separated. 

Wow, that's faith. Here you are, leading all of the Israelites out of slavery, with your enemy close behind, and you're cornered at the sea. Everyone is doubting you and God, and now you don't know what to do. But God gives you a commandment, a radical commandment; to part the waters of the sea. Yeah RIGHT! But, you believe God and you continue in faith. Okay, you say, 'God you said You would do this, so I will follow you'. 

How far do you think you would go in, had God put you in Moses' situation? Up to the edge of the water? Dip your toes in? Knees? With thousands, maybe millions of people looking at you like - 'you're going to get us out of this how?' 

Moses walks all the way up to his neck, and then, only THEN, only when he has gone as far as he possibly, humanly, can go on his own, only when his limits are maxd out, does God finally, FINALLY step in and separate the waters. 

To me, this is what faith is. Ever heard the "God helps those who help themselves"? This is what it means to me. That God has promises and hopes for you. He will work tremendous miracles in your life- but you can't just sit back and pray that He will do them, you must also act out of faith. You have to take the step, the ten steps- the leaps- and do as much as humanly possible, and then, only then, will God step in and do what you could not do. 

Remember this in times when you feel you are following God but He is not there- know that if you are at your limit, at your end, up to your neck and can't go any further without drowning- that God is close, He is near, stay strong in faith and He will step in just when you are about to go under - and he will part the waters - and your path will be clear.