Pray, yes, but then it's time to move

Some years ago when I was driving in England, I discovered how confusing roundabouts can be. Once I entered the roundabout, I couldn't figure out how to get out. I wanted to exit one way, but I had to go another way. I think I was on that roundabout for about a week.

Do you ever feel as though you're on a never-ending roundabout in your life? You're going around and around, making the same mistakes and doing the same things again and again.

That's what it was like for the Israelites in the wilderness after they left Egypt. Instead of taking them a direct route straight through to the land of Canaan, God took them on an alternate route, and they ended up at the Red Sea.

When word got back to Pharaoh that the Israelites didn't know where they were going and were camped by the Red Sea, he decided to get his army together, go get the Israelites, and put them back into slavery again.

What Pharaoh didn't realize is that he was falling into a trap. And who set the trap? God himself.

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Meanwhile, the Israelites were standing at the Red Sea, thinking, "This is so bad. It's so horrible. It can't get any worse. … Wait, what's that noise? Here comes the Egyptian army! It just got worse."

Have you ever been in a situation like that? It's bad already, and then it gets worse.

The Israelites were facing an impossible situation, and they blamed Moses. They said, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" (Exodus 14:11–12 NIV).

It took God one night to get Israel out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel.

But the Bible also gives us this detail: "As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord" (verse 10 NIV).

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When we're facing an impossible – and an even more impossible – situation, that is the time to pray. We need to cry out to God.

Are you in trouble right now? Are you facing hardship right now? Cry out to God. He will hear your prayer.

As someone has said, if your knees start knocking, kneel on them. Faith and worry cannot coexist. If worry is prominent, then faith won't be there. And if faith is prominent, then worry will leave.

That is what the apostle Paul reminds us of in Philippians 4: "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done" (verse 8 NLT).

The problem was the Israelites were letting their circumstances affect their outlook. As they saw the mighty Egyptian army approaching with their armor, spears and powerful chariots, they took their eyes off God and off the promises of God.

But I love what Moses said to the people: "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still" (verses 13–14 NIV).

No doubt the Israelites were thinking, "You're joking, right, Moses? We're backed up against the Red Sea, they're in hot pursuit, and you're telling us just to chill, relax?"

It isn't easy to do that, is it?

When my eyes are on my circumstances, I see them in a different light. Unbelief tends to create or magnify my difficulties. In contrast, faith rises above them and helps me see them through the eyes of faith.

The Israelites found themselves trapped between an unconquerable army and an impassable sea, between a rock and a hard place, so to speak.

But here's what God said to Moses: "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground" (verses 15–16 NIV).

There can come a time in our lives when it's time to move instead of pray. That might sound strange. We should always pray, right? Yes, we should. But there can come a moment when you've prayed enough, and then it's time to take action.

You see, there is God's part, and there is our part. There is a time to pray, and there is a time to move.

So Moses held up his staff, the water parted, and the Israelites started walking through.

Of course, God could have airlifted them over the Red Sea. He could have just picked them up and dropped them off on the other side. But I find it interesting that God wanted them to walk through the Red Sea on dry ground.

It's hard to imagine what it must have been like to see the massive walls of water on each side. Maybe they could see some sea creatures swimming around, I don't know. But it wasn't a quick walk. It took a long time for them to get across.

Is that not a summation of the Christian life? It's a walk. God doesn't save us and then take us straight to Heaven. Rather, we begin our walk with him, and that is what we do for the rest of our lives. We put one foot in front of the other.

It's a walk of faith, not a walk of feeling.

The Israelites walked through to the other side, to where God had called them.

In the same way we need to walk through to where God has called us. We're all facing challenges. But God is bigger than the problems we're facing right now. So we need to step forward in faith and keep our focus on him.