“And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Wherefore criest thou unto Me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.'” Exodus 14:15
Dear Ones:
It is one thing to “say” that we believe God. It is quite another to go forth in faith, believing as you go, in the face of the impossible. There came a day, a moment, when after crying to the Lord to intervene and deliver Israel, hemmed in by the Red Sea and pursued by Pharoah’s army, that Moses is asked the question by God: “Why are you crying unto Me?” In other words, the prayer has been made. Now it is time to go forth to PROVE the faithfulness of God. This “proving” is not tempting God, but acting upon His word in His time and in His way. God’s word to Moses is: “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they GO FORWARD.” This they would do, and God would do the wonderful thing.
Again, when the Israelites were on the edge of the Jordan River, having spent forty years wandering in the wilderness, they were faced with much the same dilemma. The Jordan River had overflowed its banks, and the people needed to get to the other side, but there were no bridges. The answer of God was that Joshua, in selecting twelve men to carry the Ark of the Covenant, would tell them to advance into the waters of the Jordan. It was as their feet “rested in the Jordan,” that God intervened to stop the waters, so that the people could cross on dry land. As in the case before the Red Sea, so before Jordan. There was a moment, a time, when the order was given: “Go forward.”
One day, when Jesus was in a synagogue, there was a man who had a withered hand. The Pharisees were seeking to accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath by doing something which for them was not “good.” Jesus instructed the man with the withered hand to advance in the midst of them. He then would say to him, “Stretch forth thy hand.” The man did so, and was healed. How could this man look at the very near, real impossibility of the healing of his withered hand, and then, obey Jesus? It is because of his vision, his understanding of Christ by faith. Such was the case on the edge of the Red Sea and the Jordan. All of these people who chose to GO FORWARD in obedient faith, were those who had a great vision of the God of the impossible. The size of the miracle did not matter. It was the size and greatness of the vision of God that made all the difference.
Dear Father, give us to be those who live to respond in faith, going forward, believing Thee for the realization of Thy will and purposes. Grant us grace to lay hold upon Thee according to Thy word, so that we may go forth in the expectation of Your intervention. We thank and praise Thee. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad