Faith Life 59 (The Faith Approach 2)

  

Ayoola Fakeye 

 “By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.” Hebrews 11:29‬ ‭

 

 

The approach of Moses at the Red Sea is an approach of Faith.

 

“And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.” Exodus‬ ‭14:13‬ ‬‬

 

 In Exodus 14, the children of Israel pressurized Moses. But Moses didn't allow the surrounding circumstances to change his view about God.

 

This man had not heard anything from God about the situation at the Red Sea, yet when the Children of Israel were cussing Moses, He was so confident, knowing that God wouldn't have brought them that far from Egypt; to die in the Red Sea. In the middle of your dilemma, I want you to know God wouldn't have brought you this far so that to crash-land.

 

Just like the testimony of Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:

“We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—” II Corinthians‬ ‭4:8-9‬ ‭

 

He said even if our earthen vessel may be hard-pressed on every side and the world is pilling up pressure upon us, Paul's testimony was that he was not crushed. That’s the result of the excellency of God's power in us.

 

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” II Corinthians‬ ‭4:7‬ ‭‬‬

 

 The treasure we have in our earthen vessel is the life of Christ—The anointing of the Holy Spirit. Beloved, just like Paul, your earthen vessel may experience hard pressure on every side, but the power of the Holy Spirit shall sustain you. Another thing he said was, at some junctures, they were perplexed but not despair. That is also similar to Moses’ situation. Initially, Moses, at the Red Sea, did not have a clue of what they ought to do, but he was confident that they would pass through the Red Sea. Another version calls expatiate the word perplex as “not knowing what to do currently.” Even if that is the situation, quitting should not be an option. We must stand firm in God's power and grace, knowing that there shall be light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Now back to Exodus to see Moses' approach. The approach is divided into three.

 

1. DO NOT BE AFRAID

 Beloved, if we will approach life by faith in what Christ has done, then we must know that we need to live in freedom above fear. Many times, we quickly lose confidence and forget what Christ has done, and immediately we are conquered in our mind when we face danger. However, if we can start seeing things in the light of what Christ did, we will not be submerged in fear.

 

I believe Moses' confidence was so strong because he saw the great victory God wrought in Egypt by bringing them out. So, he was sure that God will not leave them to be overtaken by the Egyptians or be drowned in the sea. The Lord is with you as well! Don't accommodate fear but see the Lord Jesus present with you!

 

2. STAND STILL

That can mean different things. But let me first say it is at this point you forsake your self-righteousness and every attempt to seek righteousness by your doings. To stand still is an instruction to stay quiet wherever you are and not be wary of finding alternatives and doing things with your self-effort. Stand still can also mean;

don't try to run away or shy away from your addictions, and challenges. Instead, stand on the liberty of which Christ has made you free from them. To stand still also means that you are virtually doing nothing. We are too busy with what we can do, thinking that we can impress God or help ourselves out.

 

Our generation has been tagged as an inpatient generation, and we are too eager to do something with an unbelieving heart. We now have men of unregulated activities, intemperate desire, reckless competition, and furious amusement. We want to be everywhere over the place. Furthermore, we are not so patient to understand the mind of God for every step we take, but we just find it easy to choose anything we like. God's instruction for us today is to stand still. Can you stop what you are struggling to do at the moment? We have been so engulfed by our work, our ministry, our family, and the likes at the expense of hearing from God.

 

I have an instruction from God for you to stand still. It is the inspiration of God that brings about faith. Often, we live our life on chance, and no wonder we are not fulling purpose because it is only a man who approaches life by faith that can fulfill his purpose.

 

A person who stands still takes an upright position. That can be referred to as uprightness or righteousness. To stand still is to see yourself as the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. A person who sees himself as such does not strive to impress God with what He does but assumes the position of what Christ has done. How do you relate to God? Is it based on your performance? Or is it based on what Christ has already done? Furthermore, how do you think God relates to you? Is it based on your performance or what Christ has done?

 

If we approach life based on faith, we need to relate with God based on what Christ has done and see God relates with us based on what His Son has done.

 

It is true you might have wandered far away, or you might not have encountered Chris. However, I want you to know that God's righteousness is available. Receive it by faith, and it shall be well with you.

I shall continue the third approach in the next episode. Stay blessed!