What does deliverance lead to?
Have you ever experienced a, “Then God…” moment in your life? You know, one of those times when things were headed one way & then something amazing happened & the only way to explain it is to say, “Then God…” did this, or opened this door, or healed this person, or made a way when there seemed to be no way.
If you’ve been following along, here’s what we’ve discovered over the past few weeks…
The fear of God leads us to love.
Love leads us to be brave.
Courage leads us to obedience.
And obedience leads us to deliverance.
But what does deliverance lead us to?
Deliverance should always lead us toward something. But more often than not, what happens is that we get stuck, we get discouraged, we get afraid… and instead of moving forward through deliverance into freedom, so many times we start looking back instead of looking forward & what was supposed to be our story of deliverance becomes another story of what could have been.
Rear View Mirror Problems
A couple of weeks ago I left the house, ready to go to work. I jumped in the truck & before I put the keys in the ignition I noticed something was wrong. My rear view mirror had fallen off my windshield.
I knew I didn’t have time to deal with it right then, so I just put it in the floor board & decided to see what it would be like to drive without a rear view mirror.
I don’t know if you’ve ever done this or had to do this, but it’s an interesting experience driving around without a rear view mirror. You definitely have to rely more on your side mirrors & actually turning your head to check behind you more often without a rear view mirror.
But you know what I discovered? You can actually drive without a rear view mirror.
Why? Because in order to get to where you want to go you have to keep your focus on what’s in front of you, not what’s behind you.
[Tweet “You can’t move forward if you’re always looking back. #DoGoodBeBrave”]Do you need to be aware of what’s behind you? Absolutely. But you can’t move forward if you’re always looking back.
Stuck
I think the same thing is true for us in our lives. So many times what happens to us as individuals, what happens to us as a church, is that we can get so consumed with looking into the rear view mirror & seeing what’s in the past that we forget to look out the windshield & see what’s ahead.
Our fixation on the past paralyzes us in the present & prevents us from stepping into the future God has for us.
[Tweet “Our fixation on the past paralyzes us in the present. “]We get stuck.
No doubt, we need a rear view mirror. We need to be able to check what’s behind us & be aware of our past… but if we don’t look out the front windshield & drive, we’ll never get to where we want to go.
And if we never step from deliverance into freedom, then we miss out on the most important part of God’s plan for us.
FROM. FOR.
Once again, this is why I love the story of Moses & the story of the Exodus. No doubt, their story is our story.
After 400 years of oppression, 400 years of slavery & captivity, 400 years of praying for God to rescue them, it was finally happening.
17 When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle.
When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God led them… toward…
[Tweet “When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God led them… toward… #Exodus 13.17-18”]This is what God does… he always leads us toward something. I think so many times we read this story & we focus on what God was leading his people FROM.
But the story isn’t about what God was leading them from, its all about what God was leading them toward.
God’s deliverance is never just deliverance FROM something, it’s deliverance FOR something.
[Tweet “God’s deliverance is never just deliverance FROM something, it’s deliverance FOR something. “]God delivered Israel FROM Egyptian slavery FOR freedom in the promised land.
The Direction of our Attention
20 The Israelites left Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. 21 The Lord went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night. 22 And the Lord did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people.
After 400 years of seemingly being absent, God wanted to lead His people in the most visible, tangible way possible! God wanted them to know that when he delivers you he won’t abandon you. That the God who saves them won’t leave them. That in a literal, physical, tangible way He is present with them & they have nothing to fear.
[Tweet “The God who delivers you won’t abandon you. #DoGoodBeBrave”]As long as they kept their attention on the presence of God they would experience ultimate deliverance & ultimate freedom. But the direction of their attention immediately after their deliverance would determine their future.
And the same is true for you & me.
[Tweet “The direction of our attention after our deliverance determines our future. #DoGoodBeBrave”]The direction of our attention after our deliverance determines our future.
But what happens next is what happens so often when people are trying to step out of any kind of bondage into freedom… there always seems to be resistance. There always seems to be a temptation to go back to where you were before… even if where you were before is not where you wanted to be. And that’s what happens here too…
The Resistance
5 When word reached the king of Egypt that the Israelites had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds. “What have we done, letting all those Israelite slaves get away?” they asked. 6 So Pharaoh harnessed his chariot and called up his troops. 7 He took with him 600 of Egypt’s best chariots, along with the rest of the chariots of Egypt, each with its commander. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, so he chased after the people of Israel, who had left with fists raised in defiance. 9 The Egyptians chased after them with all the forces in Pharaoh’s army—all his horses and chariots, his charioteers, and his troops. The Egyptians caught up with the people of Israel as they were camped beside the shore near Pi-hahiroth, across from Baal-zephon.
10 As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up (in the rear-view mirror!!!) and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, 11 and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? 12 Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’”
This is what happens when you check the rear view mirror, isn’t it?
When the future seems unknown at least the past was known.
Deliverance is scary.
Freedom is scary.
The unknown is scary.
Your enemies are scary.
Your future is scary.
Having to fight for your life is scary.
There’s a lot to be afraid of when deliverance in on the line. And so often the temptation is to return to what you know, to look back & want to go back to the way things were.
And it’s in this moment that you have to decide… Will you trust God?
When the Most Spiritual Thing You Can Do is Nothing
13 But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. 14 The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”
Moses didn’t say, prepare for battle. He didn’t say, run for your lives. Moses was fully aware that the Red Sea was on one side & the army of Egypt was coming against them on the other side.
Moses knew what everyone else was about to find out, without God they were dead meat!
Moses stands before these people.. finally set free, finally away from their slave drivers, no longer under the fear of being beaten or tortured.
And in the middle of their fear Moses says, “Have faith.” “Stay calm.” “You’re about to see God do another amazing thing for you.”
And it’s a reminder, that sometimes the most faithful thing you can do is nothing.
[Tweet “Sometimes the most faithful thing you can do is nothing. #DoGoodBeBrave”]Sometimes the most faithful thing you can do is be still. Sometimes we say, Pray like it’s all up to God & work like it’s all up to you… but the truth is that sometimes we need to pray like it’s all up to God & let it be all up to God.
Wait. Watch. God is with us. His literal presence is with us. We have nothing to fear.
Sometimes the most faithful thing you can do is “stand still.”
The “Then God…” Moment of the Story
21 Then Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind. The wind blew all that night, turning the seabed into dry land. 22 So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side!
23 Then the Egyptians—all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and charioteers—chased them into the middle of the sea. 24 But just before dawn the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw their forces into total confusion. 25 He twisted their chariot wheels, making their chariots difficult to drive. “Let’s get out of here—away from these Israelites!” the Egyptians shouted. “The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”
26 When all the Israelites had reached the other side, the Lord said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the sea again. Then the waters will rush back and cover the Egyptians and their chariots and charioteers.” 27 So as the sun began to rise, Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the water rushed back into its usual place. The Egyptians tried to escape, but the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 Then the waters returned and covered all the chariots and charioteers—the entire army of Pharaoh. Of all the Egyptians who had chased the Israelites into the sea, not a single one survived.
29 But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, as the water stood up like a wall on both sides. 30 That is how the Lord rescued Israel from the hand of the Egyptians that day. And the Israelites saw the bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the seashore.
Once more, God did it.
There’s no other explanation for what just happened. It was a “Then God…” moment.
It seemed as if all hope was lost. It seemed as if the story was over.
The way it should have ended is that Pharaoh’s army steamrolled over the Israelites & those they didn’t kill were returned to Egypt to be slaves once more.
But that’s NOT what happened. Because in the singular moment when the story should have gone one way, God intervened. God delivered. God saved.
And listen to what happened after the people experienced the deliverance of God.
This is, I believe, the most important part of the story. This is what comes after deliverance.
This is What Comes After Deliverance
31 When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with AWE before him. They put their faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
15 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord,
for he has triumphed gloriously;
he has hurled both horse and rider
into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.
This is my God, and I will praise him—
my father’s God, and I will exalt him!
3 The Lord is a warrior;
Yahweh is his name!
Seeing what God had undeniably done, being firsthand witnesses to God’s saving work, realizing that they should have died but because of God, they are alive… they stand in AWE & they WORSHIP.
The story began when the fear of God led to love.
Then love led to courage.
Courage led to obedience.
Obedience led to deliverance.
And now… Deliverance leads to worship!
[Tweet “Deliverance always leads us to worship! #DoGoodBeBrave”]When Deliverance Leads to Worship
God saved Israel so that His glory could be revealed & so that the world would know that He & He alone is the One True God & worship Him.
What Israel experiences after this incredible moment of deliverance is unparalleled worship.
Their freedom results in HIS praise.
Their response to their dramatic salvation is song. And the object of their worship is the object of their deliverance!
They turn to God in awe & wonder of what He has done, of their “Then God…” moment, & they worship.
Why? Because you can’t experience real deliverance & not respond in unbridled worship!
Your deliverance results in HIS praise!
[Tweet “Your deliverance leads to HIS praise #DoGoodBeBrave”]Deliverance always leads to worship
If you would like to listen to this message series online, click here for video or here for the podcast! Thanks!
