Following the children of Israel’s release from slavery it didn’t take long for them to have a change of perspective and become a different people. Exodus 14:10-15 shares how Pharaoh and the Egyptian army was quickly approaching the Children of Israel, and that they were becoming afraid crying out to God and pushing blame on Moses saying, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?” and further saying that they would have “been better” staying in bondage and slavery and serving the Egyptians!
Let’s think about this for a minute…
The children of Israel have just been delivered from the strong, oppressive hand of Pharaoh. God with a mighty deliverance has brought them out of Egypt the land of slavery and oppression. As they started out on their journey, they had high hopes and expectations towards the promise land, and now just a few days in and they seem to suddenly have stopped in their journey. The Bible records that they have “encamped” by the sea” (Exodus 14:9).
So here we have it, the Children of Israel is made a camp, and before them is the Red Sea, to the left, is Mountains, to the right is Mountains, and behind them is Pharaoh and the Egyptian Army… They are surrounded… Ever felt like that before? Yeah, me too… For them and all practical purposes, there was no way out!
And in the midst of chaos and confusion, the people came to Moses and begin to cry out to him, and as they cry out to him Moses goes to God and he says, God, what do you want me to do? Boy, what a pickle he’s in… And at this moment God says two words at the end of verse 15 simply saying, “go forward”.
Considering an original meaning of “forward” as to “pull up” especially the tent pegs and to start on a journey, this makes a lot of sense. It is almost like God is saying the camping trip is over, you have been camped here long enough, it’s time to pull up the tent pegs and go forward… It’s time to move on.
Many of us need to hear those words today, Go Forward.
Some of you have been camped out in the place of hurt feelings for too long and it’s time to pull up stakes & GO FORWARD!
Some of you have been camped out in the place of anger for too long and it is time for you to pull up stakes and GO FORWARD!
Some of you have been camped out in the place of depression for too long and it is time for you to pull up stakes & GO FORWARD!
Some of you have been camped out in the place of bitterness for too long and it is time for you to pull up stakes and GO FORWARD!
Some of you have been camped out in the place of laziness or in the city of “I don’t care” long enough and it is time to pull up the stakes and GO FORWARD!
Some of you have been camped out in a place of easiness & comfort for too long and it’s time to pull up stakes and GO FORWARD!
Some of you have been camped out in the place of satisfaction and it is time to pull up the stakes and GO FORWARD!
God is ready to take you on a journey.
He is ready to take you out of that place of depression into a place of joy and happiness.
He is ready to take you out of that place of laziness or of “I don’t care” and take you to a place of service and power.
He is ready to take you out of that place of easiness and comfort and stretch you and take you places you haven’t been with Him before.
God is ready to take you out of that place of satisfaction and fill you with hunger and thirst for Him like you have never had and lead you into a greater dimension of His glory than ever before.
Our best bet is to keep trusting God and to continue forward! God is telling Moses, there’s not but one thing to do… get up and GO FORWARD! Because I didn’t bring you out to take you back, and I didn’t bring you out to leave you now! Remember the amazing verse found in Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; AND HE SHALL DIRECT YOUR PATHS” (NKJV).
We may at times feel surrounded and have obstacles on every side but when you feel like you have nowhere to go look up child of God. David said in Psalms 121:1, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (NIV).
If you are feeling discouraged today, lost, stuck, or just simply defeated. It is time to pull up the tent stakes, you have camped here long enough. Go Forward!
Blessings,
Pastor Jonathan W. Pannell III
Rev. Jonathan W. Pannell III 