Coming in Clutch

If you’ve seen “The Ten Commandments,” you’ve probably seen the best depiction of “The Parting of the Red Sea” ever.

The director does a great job focusing heavily on Moses as he raises his staff. We see the wind violently whipping against Moses and the sea. You see the storm brewing. You know the sea is in turmoil.

But what you don’t see enough of is the Israelites in utter panic.

Here’s my point of view. The Israelites had been slaves for hundreds of years to a tyrant. They’ve been mocked. Laughed at. Overworked. Murdered. Beaten. Their bodies are all but broken. They don’t even have the needed supplies to do their jobs - yet they are held to a high standard of performance anyway.

These people are physically and emotionally weak. Then, here comes Moses. Sent by God to free them. And then what happens? Plagues. Ten different plagues that tortured Egypt. The final plague that falls upon Egypt is death.

The aftermath is enough for Pharaoh to finally agree to free the Israelites.

Israel had survived hundreds of years of slavery, and now they are finally free.

So they begin their journey with Moses as their leader. Delighted. Elated. Joyful. They are expecting great things! They are moving forward in freedom!

But wait.

There’s a sea in front of them. They have no boats. No flippers. No jet skis. Nothing that will help them cross the river. So now what?

But that’s not all. The armies of Pharaoh are coming in hot. Flanking them from every side, the Israelites, God’s chosen people, are trapped. They have a death sentence. There is nowhere for them to go. There is nowhere for them to hide.

For a moment, put yourself in the Israelite’s shoes.

They’ve left a lifetime of slavery to follow a man who says he’s been sent by God to free them. And he leads them to a sea that can’t be crossed at a moment’s notice? I would be freaking out, to say the least.

I would be holding my loved ones close, giving the final hugs and kisses before being slaughtered. I would be in utter and complete despair. Imagine knowing your life is but moments away from ending.

We focus so much on Moses and how he raises his rod and the sea splits, but how many times have we thought about what the people were actually going through while Moses is waiting on God to move?

People were freaked out. There might have been a handful filled with faith, but let’s face it, they were terrified.

The fact is, we’ve all been at a place in our lives at some point where we can go no further. We have physically met a dead end. We cannot move. Yet the devil is flanking us on every side.

Where do we go? What do we do?

One thing to keep in mind is that the Israelites did not know how, when, or if God would show up. We read the story, and we’re like, yeah, yeah, yeah, God shows up. Splits the read sea. They live. Yada yada yada. We know how the story ends. They didn’t.

Throughout the Bible, we can read how God time and time again came in clutch for people:

Esther

Gideon

Joshua

Daniel

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Noah

Abraham

Lazarus

The Bible records many instances in which people are placed in impossible situations. A situation they could not fix. A problem they had no power to control. All these people had was their faith. That’s it.

They all reached a point where they couldn’t do anything but trust that God would do what he does best.

The thing to learn from all this is that every time God showed up in a colossal way.

Esther - Shown great favor

Gideon - Won the battle with just 300 men

Joshua - Jericho fell with a shout

Daniel - Lived to tell the tale

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - Unburnt

Noah - Survived a deadly flood

Abraham - A ram was hiding in the thicket

Lazarus - Rose from the dead

When death is coming at you head-on, it’s terrifying. And the Israelites had no other options. It was up to God to come through.

They did not know God would be using them centuries later to convey a message of obedience, trust, and faith. They didn’t know that God would use this to show off His power and abilities.

I’m sure they would have preferred for God to strike down Pharaoh’s armies before it even got this far. I’m sure they wished to be released from slavery way before Moses ever came along. We all have our ideas of how, when, and where we’d like God to do things.

But God’s way far exceeds our ideas. And His way usually shows us where our weaknesses are. His way will bring a more profound change to our lives on multiple levels.

God is about getting the most bang for His buck. He works smarter, not harder. He’s efficient. He’s strategic. He’s faithful. He’s ever-present in our time of need.

Psalms 46:1 (NLT)

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

He’s coming in clutch.

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