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Many of us don’t realize the magnitude of our journey thus far… We’ve just left Egypt after over 400 years of slavery, with the wealth and riches of the country in hand. There were over 600 chariots of fierce warriors on our tail and a body of water, 205 miles wide ahead of us. God has given us the green light and we must move forward, there’s no going back! We look at the path ahead and Moses has to remind us that we’re in the midst of a miracle. Many times, we believe that once the Lord has made the pathway clear, that it’s going to be a cake walk, but in reality, I must say that God doesn’t usually work that way. Remember the story of Joseph… the pit, Potiphar’s house, prison and THEN the palace (Genesis 37-50). But the Bible says that the Lord was with Joseph and he received favor in each situation. The Lord has been with us also, every step of the way and with that we should be encouraged.

We’ve made it safely to the other side and we briefly look back over our shoulder. The walls of water have fallen, God has drowned all of our enemies and there’s no going back! As we look back over the past 650 days, do we really want to go back to “what was”? For some, the answer is Yes! You’ve lost so much and you’re wondering that maybe life wasn’t that bad…my life was familiar, comfortable, “normal”. But, in actuality, we can’t go back to Egypt, our lives have changed too much in the last 2 years. We’ve on the other side and we must continue to move forward by Faith. Hebrews 11:1 NLT says that “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see”. Recently, I read that faith is not the absence of doubt, nor is courage the absence of fear, but both are our commitment to overcome them. We must release our “what was”, for in Isaiah 43:16-19, God says;

I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters,
    making a dry path through the sea.
¹⁷ I called forth the mighty army of Egypt
    with all its chariots and horses.
I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned,
    their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.

¹⁸ “But forget all that—
    it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
¹⁹ For I am about to do something new.
    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

The Lord is saying that we can’t even imagine how far we’ve come. We can forget all about crossing the Red Sea on dry land, because that nothing in comparison to what I have in store for you. He’s already begun to change our situation…can you see it? By faith, we must look way beyond where we’ve been and look ahead to something “new”. The word “new” is defined as “not existing before; made, introduced, or discovered recently or now for the first time”. Can we even fathom what that might look like? Are we ready for whatever God has in store for us? Are we fearful or waiting in anticipation? I have come to realize that in order to prepare for what’s ahead, it is so much more than having to send our children to school with a mask on or attending a major public event. Although these decisions are well within our control, I really believe that we should still seek the Lord’s guidance, for this is just the beginning.

Our destiny has been predetermined.… which means that we must wait and take a quiet moment to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying! 

Next week, Our topic will be “Waiting is Hard!”