Day 22 or January the 22nd. Actions speak louder
than words. Our thoughts today are focused in
on Exodus chapter 14 verse 15. Then the Lord
said to Moses, Why are you crying out to me?
Tell the Israelites to move on. Now the big picture
surrounding this verse. After the Passover, the
Pharaoh finally agrees to the Hebrews leaving.
As they leave Egypt, they would normally have
turned left and headed north, but they didn't.
Instead, they turned right and headed south.
By taking this route, they miss the land of the
Philistines, which was approximately the Gaza
Strip of today, where the Philistines lived in
those days. However, this obedience takes them
to the Red Sea, for a miracle. God guided his
people by a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar
of fire at night. Pharaoh soon realized that
he had set free a vast army of free labour, so
he arranged for a chariot army to chase after
them. Already the Hebrews were moaning and asking
why Moses had brought them this far, only for
them to die. Moses took the initiative and told
the people not to fear. All is in hand, and God
will rescue us. What follows is one of the Old
Testament's best known miracles. The sea opens
up before the Hebrews, who safely cross on dry
land. As the Egyptian army attempts to follow,
the sea, which had been standing vertical, creating
a pathway for the Hebrews to cross on dry land,
falls back into place and drowns the whole Egyptian
army. Now our action step for today. At this
pivotal moment in history, Moses stands before
the Red Sea with the Egyptian army in hot pursuit
and God tells him to stop talking and start moving.
Moses obeys and then God does his part. Truly
there is a time for words and a time for action,
a time for praying and a time for doing. It can
often be a cop -out when we say that we'll pray
for a situation, when really we should be doing
something. Have you ever been praying instead
of doing? Have you ever been doing instead of
praying? Pray when you can't do, but do when
you can.