GO FORWARD – 15 And the LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.” Exodus 14:15 NKJV
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
Hebrews 11:29 NIV
There are a variety of things that can keep us from going forward in our relationship with God. So far this week we’ve talked about such things as fear of the future, events from our past, and questions that we don’t have answers to. Those are all very real things that evoke very real emotions.
The Israelites were very real people too with all the same fears and emotions we have today. Hebrews 11:29 gives us a clear picture of what got them through. It was faith. “By faith the people passed through the Red Sea….”
What exactly is faith? “1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Heb. 11:1 NIV). The Israelites chose to be confident in the hope God had given them. They made up their minds to believe the promises they could not necessarily see. That’s what we must do today.
In order to go forward, we must believe God.
“6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Heb. 11:6 NIV). In order to go forward, we must believe God. We must take Him at His word and trust that He will go before us. We must trust that He will come behind us. And, we must trust that He can do beyond what we could ever ask or think.
May our prayer be that of the apostles- Lord, “increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5).
APPLICATION
– Ask the Lord to increase your faith. Ask Him to help you be confident in the hope He’s given and to help you make up your mind to believe His promises.
– Pray that the Lord will make our church a body characterized by faith. May we together believe the Lord for great things moving forward! May we trust Him to accomplish the God-size vision He’s given our church.
– Pray that the people of Hampton Roads would see our faith and they would want to know our God. Like the people in Acts who “saw the courage of Peter and John,” may the people of Hampton Roads be “astonished” and “take note” that we have “been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13 NIV).