Hemmed In

"As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians marching after them."  Exodus 14:10a

Have you ever felt like you were between the proverbial "rock and a hard place?"  Have you ever been hemmed in and completely helpless to deal with your situation?  What did you do?  How did you react?

After the final plague on Egypt, Pharaoh finally agreed to let the Israelites go.  The Egyptians urged the people to hurry up and leave.  They had experienced more than enough of God's plagues on their land.  They even gave the Israelites silver, gold, and clothing to take with them as they left.  I can hear them in my mind's ear snorting the Egyptian equivalent of "good riddance."

Sometimes when we are in hard places, we think that God may have made a mistake or forgotten us or hidden His face from us or left us.  But the Israelites knew that God was with them because He led them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.  We can know that God has not forgotten us nor left us because He has given us His promise never to leave or forsake us.

God was very specific in His directions to Moses about where the Israelites were to camp, so God led them on purpose into their situation.  After the Israelites left Egypt, Pharaoh regretted letting his slaves get away, and he and his army set out in hot pursuit.

Sometimes God leads us into a difficult situation where we are hemmed in because He has a good purpose.  In this case God would be glorified and the Egyptians would know that God was the Lord.

How did the Israelites react?  Exodus 14:10b-12 tells us,  "As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians marching after them.  They were terrified and cried out to the Lord.  They said to Moses,  'Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?  What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?  Didn't we say to you in Egypt,  "Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians?  It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert"'"  Was the response of the Israelites a good example for us?  How do you think they should have reacted?

Father, when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances, may we continue to trust You and Your sovereignty, Your love, Your goodness, and Your wisdom.  Amen.