Faith Over Fear: Trusting God in Trials
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Sermon Summary
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"Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will give you today. The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. And this, Exodus 14 verse 14, truly this is one of my... my favorite verses in the Bible. Moses said, the Lord will fight for you. You need only be still." [01:17:48]
"And the result of that fear, I think, is really relevant to us as well. Because fear is the tool that the enemy, Satan, has used against his people throughout the ages. Fear is a deadly weapon. Which, if we're not wise to it... And aware of it, results in what the Israelites did here. What did they do? They suddenly just started pointing the finger back at Moses. Just resulted in blame and accusation." [01:20:38]
"Sometimes it comes back to us. It's my fault. Or it's God's fault. And that sort of pattern of thinking developed throughout those 40 years in the desert. If you read through the rest of the story, again and again the Israelites would forget and start blaming, start complaining, start grumbling. It is a mindset that's set in. And I think that's the first challenge for me. This mindset of fear and blame other people. It just paralyzes. And it really does not bring breakthrough." [01:21:34]
"But then if you look at the opposite of that, you see the response that Moses has, which was completely the opposite. He said, Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance of the Lord that He will bring to you today. And I think, again, the principle, one of the keys here, that Moses is a completely changed man from 10 chapters ago where he met God at the burning bush, where he was fearful." [01:22:04]
"And that's something which I think we need to do more. You know, this last year, I was given this journal by Malachi and Mimi as a Father's Day present. And I have never been very good at journaling, like writing down things and just remembering. But honestly, since I've started writing things down, prayers which have been unanswered, times where God has spoken to me, I can't tell you how important it is for us to start remembering what God has done for us in our history, in our own personal journey." [01:22:57]
"But what he actually says, if you go to verse 15, then the Lord says to Moses, Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move. That is a bizarre response. And actually, it reminds me of a similar response that Jesus had to his disciples. You remember in Matthew 8, the disciples are in the boat. The storm is all over the place, and they're terrified. Disciples are terrified." [01:24:15]
"I find that really challenging. Both those parallel stories, the way God responds to Moses, the way Jesus responds to his disciples, is a kind of wake-up call to all of us that God takes spiritual maturity really, really seriously. Like, it's not enough. It's not enough to come into Numa and just sing the songs. It really is not enough. You know, I mean, Moses had declared what's going to happen, but God was like, Why are you crying out to me? Move on." [01:25:07]
"So I think it's important. These are some of the keys, which as I was reading this story, again, there's points in our lives where we get to, like, a Red Sea moment, where literally it feels like there is no way forward. It is too complicated, too hurtful, whether that is business, finance, marriage, relationships, sickness, illness, whatever it is. Sometimes it feels like we're trapped in this kind of Red Sea moment. And it's like, Lord, what are you doing? I can't go forward. You can't go back. It's painful to be in those moments." [01:26:30]
"But I think there's a key here where God really, in his loving kindness, he gives us this incredible choice. Because it's up to us whether we either choose that path of what the Israelites did by hanging on to fear, which then turns to acquisition and self-pity, or what Moses did was hanging on to the promise on remembrance and truthfulness." [01:27:11]
"And then eventually leading to breakthrough, blessing, and in verse 12 of James 1, the crown of life. And so there's this. There's this really strange paradox where God allows us into these situations where he may not be moving as we expect him to, but he's giving us a choice. Either you hang on to this fear or you hang on to my truth and my promises." [01:28:10]
"It wasn't a clever way. Like Moses was not expecting the sea to part, I can guarantee. That was a real surprise. Nor was the disciples expecting the storm to completely be still. It's God's solution. God had actually came through and made a way. But that was up to God, that part. But our part is where do we position ourselves?" [01:29:16]
"And I think that's the freedom there is as walking out our Christian life, walking out with Christ, is God gives us that choice. No matter what is in front of us, no matter what that Red Sea looks like, God gives us the choice. We either choose one or the other. But he takes us to the other side. He takes our maturity so seriously. He wants us to grow up." [01:29:58]
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"And the result of that fear, I think, is really relevant to us as well. Because fear is the tool that the enemy, Satan, has used against his people throughout the ages. Fear is a deadly weapon. Which, if we're not wise to it... And aware of it, results in what the Israelites did here. What did they do? They suddenly just started pointing the finger back at Moses. Just resulted in blame and accusation." [01:20:38]
"Sometimes it comes back to us. It's my fault. Or it's God's fault. And that sort of pattern of thinking developed throughout those 40 years in the desert. If you read through the rest of the story, again and again the Israelites would forget and start blaming, start complaining, start grumbling. It is a mindset that's set in. And I think that's the first challenge for me. This mindset of fear and blame other people. It just paralyzes. And it really does not bring breakthrough." [01:21:34]
"But then if you look at the opposite of that, you see the response that Moses has, which was completely the opposite. He said, Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance of the Lord that He will bring to you today. And I think, again, the principle, one of the keys here, that Moses is a completely changed man from 10 chapters ago where he met God at the burning bush, where he was fearful." [01:22:04]
"And that's something which I think we need to do more. You know, this last year, I was given this journal by Malachi and Mimi as a Father's Day present. And I have never been very good at journaling, like writing down things and just remembering. But honestly, since I've started writing things down, prayers which have been unanswered, times where God has spoken to me, I can't tell you how important it is for us to start remembering what God has done for us in our history, in our own personal journey." [01:22:57]
"But what he actually says, if you go to verse 15, then the Lord says to Moses, Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move. That is a bizarre response. And actually, it reminds me of a similar response that Jesus had to his disciples. You remember in Matthew 8, the disciples are in the boat. The storm is all over the place, and they're terrified. Disciples are terrified." [01:24:15]
"I find that really challenging. Both those parallel stories, the way God responds to Moses, the way Jesus responds to his disciples, is a kind of wake-up call to all of us that God takes spiritual maturity really, really seriously. Like, it's not enough. It's not enough to come into Numa and just sing the songs. It really is not enough. You know, I mean, Moses had declared what's going to happen, but God was like, Why are you crying out to me? Move on." [01:25:07]
"So I think it's important. These are some of the keys, which as I was reading this story, again, there's points in our lives where we get to, like, a Red Sea moment, where literally it feels like there is no way forward. It is too complicated, too hurtful, whether that is business, finance, marriage, relationships, sickness, illness, whatever it is. Sometimes it feels like we're trapped in this kind of Red Sea moment. And it's like, Lord, what are you doing? I can't go forward. You can't go back. It's painful to be in those moments." [01:26:30]
"But I think there's a key here where God really, in his loving kindness, he gives us this incredible choice. Because it's up to us whether we either choose that path of what the Israelites did by hanging on to fear, which then turns to acquisition and self-pity, or what Moses did was hanging on to the promise on remembrance and truthfulness." [01:27:11]
"And then eventually leading to breakthrough, blessing, and in verse 12 of James 1, the crown of life. And so there's this. There's this really strange paradox where God allows us into these situations where he may not be moving as we expect him to, but he's giving us a choice. Either you hang on to this fear or you hang on to my truth and my promises." [01:28:10]
"It wasn't a clever way. Like Moses was not expecting the sea to part, I can guarantee. That was a real surprise. Nor was the disciples expecting the storm to completely be still. It's God's solution. God had actually came through and made a way. But that was up to God, that part. But our part is where do we position ourselves?" [01:29:16]
"And I think that's the freedom there is as walking out our Christian life, walking out with Christ, is God gives us that choice. No matter what is in front of us, no matter what that Red Sea looks like, God gives us the choice. We either choose one or the other. But he takes us to the other side. He takes our maturity so seriously. He wants us to grow up." [01:29:58]
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