By John Blase
If my kids get sick in the middle of the night, they call, “Dad!” It’s been that way since they were little. I trained them to do that, to give their mother who stayed at home with them all day a break.
Even now, with one in college and two in the high school years, if they get sick after hours, they call, “Dad!” I love that they have no doubt I’m just a few steps away, and although I may not be able to make everything better, I’ll sure try.
You might say I practiced attachment fathering. And you’d be right. Have I taught my children to do things on their own? Absolutely. But I’ve also taught them that calling out for help is not a weakness. In fact, when you need help often the bravest thing you can do is ask for it.
I’m afraid we give our children incredibly mixed signals when we emphasize independence at the expense of dependence, especially in regard to the life of faith, where we’re supposed to be totally, well, dependent on God. Yes, sorta strange.
So much of the story of Moses is about attachment fathering—God training Moses and the Hebrew people to cry out to Him. Unfortunately this wasn’t a one-and-done lesson. It took years and years and more years; and even after all the miracles in Egypt and the plagues and the pillars of fire and cloud and the supernatural provisions in the middle of nowhere, some still doubted God was with them.
But God was as close as their breath, ready to respond to their pleas for help, to show to the watching world (at that time, Pharaoh’s army) that He was the good Father who fiercely loved His people and would do anything, anything at all, to make good on His promises to them.
There may not be a Red Sea in front of you, but chances are good there’s something out there, something that threatens to cause you to lose heart, maybe even give up. If Moses were here right now (which he sorta is, via the living Word of God) I believe he’d say this: Cry out to the good Father! Tell Him what’s going on, that you need help or you’re in trouble, or both. He will fight the battle for you, if you’ll let Him. Trust me, I’ve seen wonders like you would not believe. Why once, the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground! No god is great like God!
Written by John Blase
7 thoughts on "From The Life of Moses – Crossing the Red Sea"
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I think the best part of this is knowing even through the times that we will fail God (just like the Israelites) God remains a faithful Father to us, who don’t even deserve it.
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These passages also show the power of God, and show that when we cry out the power in the response is extraordinary.
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I was struck by God’s strategic planning – first in picking a road to avoid war and then in doing a route to cause war. I love when these passages share God’s thoughts like that.
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Yesterday was really difficult. There was a lot going through my mind. However last night when I was at church, Neal spoke out of 1 Corinthians 13 on what love is and what love is not. And just being reminded of how good the love of God is for us was refreshing to my soul. It challenged my own motives but to also see the sin and self centeredness in my own heart. This story this morning about God making a way for Egypt to escape shows me just how easily we give up on God. The people of Israel saw Egypt pursuing them and said they would’ve rather lived as slaves or return to their slavery than to risk dying in the wilderness. I know in my own life that God has freed me from sin that is holding me, only to return to it because the feeling of freedom is so foreign and can be very uncomfortable. And it is foreign for us who have long been enslaved to something. But thank God that he doesn’t give up on us and he leads us out of it. “It is for freedom that Christ ha set us free, so do not return again to a yoke of slavery” Galatians 5:1
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Lord, help me to rely on you to fight the battles that I cannot win on my own. Convict me of the right behaviors and decisions in following you and rid me of anything that distracts from who You have called me to be as your son. Help me to be still and know that you are my good father who loves me.
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The Lord fights for us and takes the brunt of the blows from the enemy. Just like God moved in between the Israelites and the Egyptians, God moves between us and our foes/temptations. He understands our weaknesses and fills them with himself. When we have a vulnerability, he is willing and able to make up what we lack. Faith is admitting that we are insufficient and resting in the complete sufficiency of Jesus. He is able to accomplish any thing we run into in our lives.
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In this we need to ask for help no matter what and how small and listen to god for the strength. Let god lead the way and follow him because he will always guide you in the best path. I have waited far too long to ask for his help but I know he is there no matter when I ask he will always answer.
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