Chapter 7 - Crossing Your Red Sea

Date:   12/27/2007 10:37:20 PM ( 17 y ago)

Chapter 7 - Crossing Your Red Sea
"Speak unto the children of Israel that they go
forward." --Ex. 14:15
One of the most dramatic stories in the bible is
the episode of the children of Israel crossing the
Red Sea.
Moses was leading them out of the land of Egypt
where they were kept in bondage and slavery. They
were being pursued by the Egyptians.
The children of Israel, like most people, did not
enjoy trusting God; they did a lot of murmuring.
They said to Moses: "Is not this the word that we
did tell you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that
we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been
better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we
should die in the wilderness."
"And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not,
stand still, and see the salvation of the lord,
which he will show to you today, for the Egyptians
whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again
no more forever."
"The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold
your peace."
We might say that Moses pounded faith into the
children of Israel.
They preferred being slaves to their old doubts
and fears (for Egypt stands for darkness), than to
take the giant swing into faith, and pass through
the wilderness to their Promised Land.
There is, indeed, a wilderness to pass through
before your Promised Land is reached.
The old doubts and fears encamp round about you,
but, there is always someone to tell you to go
forward! There is always a Moses on your pathway.
Sometimes it is a friend, sometimes intuition!
"And the Lord said to Moses, Wherefore do you cry
unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that
they go forward!"
"But lift thou up your rod, and stretch out your
hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children
of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst
of the sea."
"And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea;
and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong
east wind all that night, and made the sea dry
land, and the waters were divided."
"And the children of Israel went into the midst of
the sea upon the dry ground, and the waters were a
wall unto them on their right hand, and on their
left."
"And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them
to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's
horses, his chariots, and his horsemen."
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out your
hand over the sea, that the waters may come again
upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon
their horsemen."
"And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea,
and the sea returned; and the Egyptians fled
against it, and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians
in the midst of the sea."
"And the waters returned, and covered the
chariots, and the horsemen, and all the hosts of
Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there
remained not so much as one of them."
Now remember, the bible is talking about the
individual. It is talking about your wilderness,
your Red Sea, and your Promised Land.
Each one of you has a Promised Land, a heart's
desire, but you have been so enslaved by the
Egyptians (your negative thoughts), it seems very
far away, and too good to be true. You consider
trusting God a very risky proposition. The
wilderness might prove worse than the Egyptians.
And how do you know your Promised Land really
exists?
The reasoning mind will always back up the
Egyptians.
But sooner or later, something says, "Go forward!"
It is usually circumstances -- you are driven to
it.
I give the example of a student.
She is a very marvelous pianist and had great
success abroad. She came back with a book full of
press clippings, and a happy heart.
A relative took an interest in her and said she
would back her financially for a concert tour.
They chose a manager who took charge of the
expenses, and attended to her bookings.
After a concert or two, there were no more funds.
The manager had taken them. My friend was left
stranded, desolate and disappointed. This was
about the time that she came to me.
She hated the man, and it was making her ill. She
had very little money and could afford only a
cheerless room where her hands were often too cold
to practice.
She was indeed, in bondage to the Egyptians --
hate, resentment, lack and limitation.
Someone brought her to one of my meetings, and she
spoke to me and told her story.
I said, "In the first place you must stop hating
that man. When you are able to forgive him, your
success will come back to you. You are taking
your initiation in forgiveness."
It seemed a pretty big order, but she tried and
came regularly to all my meetings.
In the meantime, the relative had started a suit
to recover the money. Time went on and it never
came to court.
My friend had a call to go to California. She was
no longer disturbed by the situation, and had
forgiven the man.
Suddenly, after about four years, she was notified
that the case had come to court. She called me
upon her arrival in New York, and asked me to
speak the word for rightness and justice.
They went at the time appointed, and it was all
settled out of court, the man restoring the money
by monthly payments.
She came to me overflowing with joy, for she said,
"I hadn't the least resentment toward the man. He
was amazed when I greeted him cordially." Her
relative said that all the money was to go to her,
so she found herself with a big bank account.
Now she will soon reach her Promised Land. She
came out of the house of bondage (of hate and
resentment) and crossed her Red Sea. Her goodwill
toward the man caused the waters to part, and she
crossed over on dry land.
Dry land symbolizes something substantial under
your feet, the feet symbolizing understanding.
Moses stands out as one of the greatest figures in
biblical history.
It came to Moses to move from Egypt with his
nation. The task before him was not only the
unwillingness of Pharaoh to let go of those whom
he had made into profitable slaves, but also to
stimulate to open rebellion this nation which had
lost its initiative under the hardships of its
taskmasters.
It required extraordinary genius to meet this
condition, which Moses possessed with self
abnegation and the courage of his own convictions.
Self abnegation! He was called the meekest of men.
We have often heard the expression, "As meek as
Moses". He was so meek towards the commands of
the Lord, that he became one of the strongest of
men.
"The Lord said to Moses, 'Lift up your rod, and
stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it,
and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground
through the midst of the sea.'"
So, never doubting, he said to the children of
Israel, "Go forward." This was a daring thing to
do, to lead a multiple of people into the sea,
having perfect faith they would not drown.
Behold the miracle!
"... the Lord caused the sea to go back by a
strong east wind all that night, and made the sea
dry land, and the waters were divided."
Now remember, this could happen for you this very
day. Think of your problem.
Maybe you have lost your initiative from living so
long a slave to Pharaoh (your doubts, fears and
discouragements).
Say to yourself, "Go forward."
" ... the Lord caused the sea to go back by a
strong east wind."
We will think of this strong east wind as a strong
affirmation.
Take a vital statement of Truth. For example if
your problem is a financial one, say "My supply
comes from God, and big happy financial surprises
come to me, under grace, in perfect ways." The
statement is a good one, for it contains the
element of mystery.
We are told that God works in mysterious ways His
wonders to perform. We might say in surprising
ways. Now that you have made your statement for
supply, you have caused the east wind to blow.
So walk up to your Red Sea of lack or limitation.
The way to walk up to your Red Sea is to do
something to show your fearlessness.
I will tell the story of a student who had an
invitation to visit friends at a very fashionable
summer resort.
She had been living in the country for a long
time, grown heavier, and nothing fitted her but
her girl scout suit. Suddenly, she received the
invitation. It meant evening clothes, slippers
and accessories, none of which she had, and no
money to buy them. She came to me. I said, "What
is your hunch?"
She replied, "I feel very fearless. I have the
hunch to go anyway."
So she squeezed herself into something to travel
in and went.
When she arrived at her friend's house she was
greeted warmly, but her hostess said, with some
embarrassment, "Maybe what I've done will hurt
you, but there are some evening clothes and
slippers I never wear which I have put in your
room. Won't you make use of them?"
My friend assured her she would be delighted --
and everything fitted perfectly.
She had, indeed, walked up to her Red Sea and
passed over on dry land.
The waters of my Red Sea part, and I pass over on
dry land, I now go forward into my Promised Land.


 

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