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Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Trapped in Fear: Part 1

Have you ever found yourself in a dilemma that seemed to have no way out?  Every way you looked had signs of danger.  Any choice you considered risked hurting someone you care about and had great risk with no reward in sight.  Many of us have found ourselves in this sort of pickle, trapped between a rock and a hard place.

In Exodus 14, the Israelites found themselves in such a situation.  They were fleeing Egypt on foot in pursuit of freedom after Pharaoh had set them free.  But God hardened Pharaoh's heart (Ex 14:4) and he began to pursue the people with his army of horses, chariots, and horsemen.  The Egyptians caught up with the Israelites between Migdol and the Red Sea.  When the Israelites saw the army coming, they cried out to the Lord and questioned Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?"  (Ex 14:10-11).

The Israelites had just witnessed God's infinite power by inflicting ten plagues (Ex 7-12) on the Egyptians and Pharaoh and even allowing them to be set free.  Yet as soon as they were met with adversity, they allowed their fear to take over.  The people became irrational in their thinking even telling Moses that it would have been better to live as slaves in Egypt than to die in the wilderness (Ex 14:12).

When the Israelites saw the Egyptian army coming, they began grumbling against Moses, a pattern that would become far too familiar throughout Exodus.  But sadly, the same is often true in our lives.  When we allow ourselves to become so fixated and focused on what's going on around us, a health concern, a financial problem, political issues, economical issues, whatever it may be, we take our eyes and minds off of the amazing grace and power of God and we can become filled with fear.

The Israelites witnessed the miracles of God and saw His power firsthand and we are quick sometimes to use that as an excuse.  But haven't we witnessed God's miracles as well.  Look around you, count your blessings.  We have all been privileged to experience the miraculous power of God sometime in our life.  I do not believe it is a sin to get scared or be fearful at times, rather an opportunity for our faith to be strengthened by the results of God's activity in helping in those difficult times.

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