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If  you live anywhere in the eastern U.S. you have been dealing with Super Storm Sandy – Frankenstorm as the media dubbed her – a record-setting series of weather events that have left many in devastation.  Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have suffered loss and are doing their best to put their homes and lives back together.  In our neck of the woods, we dealt with wind and rain … lots and lots of rain.  It was somewhat ironic that the Tuesday Bible Study I teach was studying Noah on Tuesday!  And Journey onWord  is reading about the parting of the Red Sea this week!  But there is little humor when one finds themselves in a jam…

In a pinch
In a pickle
Between a rock & a hard place
Up a tree
In a corner
Up a creek without a paddle…

You get the idea.  In Exodus 13 we find the Israelites as free people for the first time in their lives.  And God puts them on a path towards a very bad predicament.

Exodus 13:18
So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.

This was no accident.  God was leading the people on the path he wanted them to take – the cloud guided them by day and the fire by night.  God wanted them to end up at … a dead-end.  To the North were the Egyptians; to the south was the desert; to the west was Goshen and to the east, the Red Sea.  There was no escape.  And then…

Exodus 14  — The Egyptians – all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops – pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea…

The Israelites had to be terrified.  They could see the men coming from afar; they could probably hear them coming as well.  How would you react?  Well, the Israelites begged God for help … and basically blamed Moses. What Moses said to them in response should be the words we hold onto when we are up against it:

Verse 21  Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today … the Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

If those words from Scripture don’t make you want to stand up and cheer, your entire perspective could be a little off.  God Almighty is going to do the fighting for us – we just need to be still and wait and watch!  This should be a revolutionary new way for us to look at our predicaments. God is always in control of the situation; and no matter whether it’s a troubling work event, a family in distress, or a new diagnosis … The Lord will fight for us!

Puts that ol’ Super Storm in perspective, wouldn’t you say?