Trapped!

God delivered the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt by performing a series of miracles on their behalf. He led them through the desert by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. The cloud and fire were never out of sight; thus, they were able to travel either by day or night. That is heady stuff! The Israelis must have felt really special. Therefore, when God led them to a spot between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal-zephon, and instructed them to camp there along the shore, they must have felt confident that all was well.

 God alone knew that Pharaoh had decided that he would pursue them and take them back to Egypt as slaves. When the children of Israel saw the Egyptian army approaching, however, they were terrified, and they began to rail against Moses: “Have you brought us out here to die in the desert because there were not enough graves for us in Egypt? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Isn’t this what we told you, while we were slaves, to leave us alone? We said it would be better to be slaves to the Egyptians than dead in the wilderness.” (Exodus 14:11-12 Living Bible)

The children of Israel were trapped, but it was a good trap. God had brought them to that spot so that he could perform yet another miracle on their behalf. God told them through Moses, “The Egyptians you are looking at—you will never see them again. The Lord will fight for you, and you won’t need to lift a finger.” (Exodus 14:13-14 Living Bible)

God parted the sea and dried the ground with a strong east wind that blew all night. During the night, He moved the pillar of fire behind the Israelis so that it stood between them and the Egyptians. That single pillar of fire gave light to the children of Israel but darkness to the Egyptian army so that they could not find them.

When the ground was dry, the Israelis crossed the sea, and when they were all safely on the other side, the Egyptian army was able to see them again and pursued them. As the Egyptians crossed the sea, however, God caused the water to close over them and the sea to return to normal. Of the entire Egyptian army that chased after Israel through the sea, not one remained alive.

As long as Pharaoh’s army remained intact, the people of Israel would never have been safe. God, therefore, wiped out the entire army without any help from the Israelis and provided yet another example of His loving faithfulness to His children.

The Bible is filled with examples of good traps set by God to bring His children to the exact place they needed to be: Jonah was trapped in the belly of a whale; as a result, the entire city of Nineveh was saved.

Likewise, when Syria was at war with Israel, the King of Syria sent his army to Dothan to capture the prophet Elisha. When the inhabitants of the city awoke the next day, they discovered that they were surrounded by a huge number of troops, horses, and chariots. As the army advanced, however, Elisha prayed that God would make the army blind, and He did. Elisha then went out and told them that they had come to the wrong city. He said that he would take them to the prophet; instead, he led them to Samaria, the capital city of Israel, and turned them over to the King of Israel. Elisha then instructed the King of Israel to give the Syrian army food and drink and to send them home. After that the Syrian raiders stayed away from Israel.

Do you feel trapped? Has life squeezed you into an impossible situation? Are you struggling with your job, your finances, your broken relationships? Stop thinking of the “impossible” circumstances in your life as traps. Maybe God is squeezing you a little so that He can deliver you in a miraculous way that will build your faith and change your life.

When we find ourselves trapped by circumstances beyond our control, we frequently want to give up and retreat into slavery or surrender to the enemy. Instead, let’s resolve to turn to Jesus and trust Him with all of our hearts to deliver us and to set us in that perfect place in the center of His will. It is scary for a while, but the results are amazing.

For related articles visit http://www.frontier2000.net/.