SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning and welcome to the Orchard Online.
SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad that you've tuned in with us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Uh this is the location location pastor uh month, and I'm very excited to bring to you a message that the Lord uh laid on my heart.
SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes the Christian life is just tough.
SPEAKER_00: It's not always rainbows and unicorns and roses.
SPEAKER_00: And about three weeks ago, I taken a week off for vacation, and if you're like me, you take a couple days and go to the beach, and then you spend the other five days trying to catch up and uh you know accomplish the list of honeydews that your wife has for you.
SPEAKER_00: And it was one of those days where I had a great plan, had everything in place to get some things accomplished.
SPEAKER_00: And first thing I'm gonna pressure wash, and you know, I've got to crank up my pressure washer and it won't start.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, what is going on?
SPEAKER_00: And so finally rebuilt the carburetor, got it going, and it worked for a little while, ran out of gas, had to rebuild the carburetor again.
SPEAKER_00: It was just one of those days I wanted to throw it in the river.
SPEAKER_00: And finally I told my wife, let's take a break, let's go down to the river and then just uh jump in the boat for a few minutes and cool off.
SPEAKER_00: And and we get down there, and my son's jet ski is literally sinking.
SPEAKER_00: So we worked on that for a few hours, trying to get it.
SPEAKER_00: I said, I'm finally just gonna get it out of the river, I'm gonna hook it to my boat and pull it out, and then my boat won't crank up.
SPEAKER_00: And it was just one of those days where you really literally look up and say, Lord, why?
SPEAKER_00: You know, here we are trying to get some work accomplished, trying to take care of the great things you bless us with.
SPEAKER_00: And in the middle of this, I just say, really?
SPEAKER_00: Have you been there?
SPEAKER_00: Have you been in that place where where you just ask that, ask God that question, why?
SPEAKER_00: Why is all of this happening?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, in so much in one day, I mean, Lord, and then we justify, Lord, I work so hard to serve you.
SPEAKER_00: We sacrifice, we we we give, we we go above and beyond.
SPEAKER_00: Is it too much to ask for one day where things just flow and we can get some things accomplished?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I think that we've all lived in these moments.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I know that we've all lived in these moments.
SPEAKER_00: You work hard to do the right things, you honor God with your finances, you you try to do the right thing, and it just seems like it still takes a lot of work every day.
SPEAKER_00: You see, these are what we call pressures of life.
SPEAKER_00: The pressures that we all endure, they're things that just happen because we live in a broken world.
SPEAKER_00: But in the humanness of who we are, we still look to God and we have that question, God, what am I missing?
SPEAKER_00: Am I doing something wrong?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'll be the first to tell you that those are honest questions coming from an honest heart.
SPEAKER_00: Seems like when one problem rolls into the next, we try to take one step forward and we get pushed three or four steps back.
SPEAKER_00: Well, if you've ever been there, you are not alone.
SPEAKER_00: You're actually in pretty good company.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll be the first to tell you that God has not answered every question that I have, but he has given me a clear understanding of how we can find peace in these moments of pressure.
SPEAKER_00: You see, here's the thing: the Israelites found themselves in such a tough place.
SPEAKER_00: If you remember, they were in bondage, they were in slavery for 400 years, and they wanted to get out of slavery in Egypt, and then they had watched ten miraculous plagues by the hand of God.
SPEAKER_00: They had seen the power of God, and now all of a sudden they were Exodus, and they experienced this miraculous uh escape from slavery, and freedom is before them.
SPEAKER_00: And here we are, just a couple days later, and they're trapped.
SPEAKER_00: Now the Red Sea's in front of them.
SPEAKER_00: Pharaoh's army is coming back to get them, and they are literally between a rock and a hard place, and it's just one of those tough places where they're experiencing pressure.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to show you in this text of what it looks like when we're under pressure, when it looks like everything we're trying to accomplish ends in a dead end.
SPEAKER_00: Let me read this text to you, Exodus 14.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to begin in verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: It says, As Pharaoh approached the Israelites, looked up, and there were Egyptians marching after them.
SPEAKER_00: This is important.
SPEAKER_00: They were terrified, and they cried out to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And they said to Moses, the leader, Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?
SPEAKER_00: What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
SPEAKER_00: Didn't we say to you at Egypt, just leave us alone, let us serve the Egyptians.
SPEAKER_00: It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert.
SPEAKER_00: And Moses answered the people, This is so important.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: Stand firm, and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.
SPEAKER_00: The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.
SPEAKER_00: And then verse 14, he says, The Lord will fight for you.
SPEAKER_00: You need only to be still.
SPEAKER_00: And then the Lord says to Moses, Why are you crying out to me?
SPEAKER_00: Tell the Israelites to move on.
SPEAKER_00: And then here's the instruction, verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: Moses, raise your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water, so the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
SPEAKER_00: I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them.
SPEAKER_00: And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.
SPEAKER_00: The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.
SPEAKER_00: Now, before we are too hard on these Israelites, let's be honest, we've all stood in moments of where they've stood.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe not with an army charging down on you from behind and a dead end, a Red Sea in front of you, but we've all found ourselves trapped between those rocks and a hard place.
SPEAKER_00: Those things that we've hoped for and what the reality of life actually looks like.
SPEAKER_00: And it's in these moments that we naturally experience anxiety and fear and doubt, and we experience things that make us question what our faith once celebrated.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta think about this.
SPEAKER_00: Just a couple days before, they were singing praises to God.
SPEAKER_00: They were delivered, God had delivered them, and now they're asking, Did he bring us here to die?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, how quickly things can change.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're honest, I think we've all done the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: We worship and we praise God on Sunday, and then Monday morning happens.
SPEAKER_00: And we say things like, God, this isn't where I thought my obedience would lead.
SPEAKER_00: I thought following you would make life easier.
SPEAKER_00: I thought if I was faithful that some of the pressure would let up.
SPEAKER_00: Well, let me tell you something that I know, and I believe that you know too, is the enemy loved to try to convince us that when the path gets hard, somehow we must have just missed God's will.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we've done something wrong, and that's what's causing all these problems.
SPEAKER_00: But what if what if the pressure isn't proof that God has abandoned you?
SPEAKER_00: What if the pressure is proof that you are standing exactly where God desires you to be so he can reveal his power and his glory?
SPEAKER_00: Because that's what the Israelites couldn't see.
SPEAKER_00: The Red Sea was not a mistake.
SPEAKER_00: The Red Sea wasn't God's failure.
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't a detour, it was actually a stage that he was setting up so his glory could be revealed.
SPEAKER_00: So the people could see and know that something extraordinary had happened.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe in the same way, maybe the place that you're at is where you're asking God, God, are you going to show me something big out of this time, this place of pressure?
SPEAKER_00: So why do we experience these pressures?
SPEAKER_00: Well, this leads to the big idea.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the pressure you're standing in right now could be God's platform for you and the entire world to see his glory.
SPEAKER_00: Man, when we think about those moments of pressure that we are living in, could God be using this for his glory to be revealed?
SPEAKER_00: Well, God laid out for us these powerful progressions that's in the story.
SPEAKER_00: And I think it all comes down to obedience.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I would say unrealistic obedience, even in those high pressure moments of life.
SPEAKER_00: Because in this text, I want to share with you three choices that we have to make, three steps that we must take, three mindsets that we must have if we're going to see God's glory, even in those high pressure moments of life.
SPEAKER_00: You see, when you get to the point that so many things are happening and you're just kicking the can down the road, asking God why.
SPEAKER_00: Let me show you these three things.
SPEAKER_00: The first is this you gotta just remember what God has already done.
SPEAKER_00: Man, it seems like when when pressure moments come in, we get amnesia.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 10, it says these words As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians marching after them.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the key they were terrified and they cried out to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Now the Israelites, they're in a serious place of fear.
SPEAKER_00: And the first thing fear does is erase our memory from how good God is.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, if they could just remember the miracles that had taken place, that God had just delivered them out of 400 years of slavery.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta think about this.
SPEAKER_00: Every person that was there was born into slavery, it's all they had ever known.
SPEAKER_00: And now God is inviting them to go down this very specific route.
SPEAKER_00: They've answered with obedience.
SPEAKER_00: Everything is good.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, they're camping, they're sinking Kumbaya got the hot dogs on the grill, and the kids have the s'mores, everything is looking great.
SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden they look up in a plume of dust.
SPEAKER_00: Here comes the Egyptians marching down behind them.
SPEAKER_00: So the Red Sea is in front of them.
SPEAKER_00: There's a roadblock here.
SPEAKER_00: The Egyptians are behind them coming down, and there's mountain ranges that are impassable on both sides, and they are literally between a rock and a hard place.
SPEAKER_00: And it's in that moment that they forget everything that God has already done.
SPEAKER_00: Here comes the pressure.
SPEAKER_00: When pressure kicks in, it seems like that's when amnesia kicks in.
SPEAKER_00: They forgot every miracle that God had already performed.
SPEAKER_00: So, what is this word calling us to do?
SPEAKER_00: Just simply remember.
SPEAKER_00: Just remember the goodness of God.
SPEAKER_00: Remember all the hard times and the pressures that you've been through in your life and how God used them for his glory.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to remember where we've been.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to remember where he's brought you.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to remember the prayers that he's answered, remember the doors that he's opened, the times that he carries you when you couldn't carry yourself.
SPEAKER_00: You see, there's somebody listening today who's probably at a Red Sea right now in your life.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's just a red mud puddle.
SPEAKER_00: But whatever it is, I promise you, if God brought you to it, he will bring you through it.
SPEAKER_00: But he's simply calling us to remember.
SPEAKER_00: So what's the next thing that we see, this next progression?
SPEAKER_00: After we remember the glory of God, we remember how good He is.
SPEAKER_00: The second thing we do is we rest before we react.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we live in a world of instantaneous gratification.
SPEAKER_00: We want to be gratified instantly.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, if you have a phone and you're trying to upload a picture, we get upset if it's not uploaded in a half a second.
SPEAKER_00: We want instant gratification.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's something that has never changed.
SPEAKER_00: Because the Israelites, they wanted instant gratification.
SPEAKER_00: They wanted instant salvation in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: But what we're seeing in this text, if you take a moment and if you remember what God has already done, take a deep breath.
SPEAKER_00: You don't panic, and very simply just give God a moment to work.
SPEAKER_00: Just give him a minute to work.
SPEAKER_00: You see, in verse 13, Moses doesn't tell them to figure it out.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't tell them, hey, let's go gather up some palm trees and some palm fronds and some grapevines and let's try to build some rafts.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't tell everybody to learn how to swim.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't get them in groups with the strongest swimmers, with the weakest swimmers.
SPEAKER_00: He simply says, don't be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: But that's not all.
SPEAKER_00: He tells them don't be afraid, but he also says, stand firm.
SPEAKER_00: It's so important that stand firm because in the original context of this Hebrew word, it literally means to stand firm as if you're standing before your Savior.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you realize this today that panic and moments of pressure has never solved any problems.
SPEAKER_00: Fear in the moments of pressure has never parted any seas, and anxiety has never ever ever performed any miracles.
SPEAKER_00: And Moses, this extraordinary leader, he gives them this invitation to set fear aside and embrace faith by the power of remembering in this moment of rest.
SPEAKER_00: Moses says, Do not be afraid, stand firm, and here's the result, and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring for you today.
SPEAKER_00: These Egyptians you see today you will never see again.
SPEAKER_00: You see, some of us we don't need another explanation.
SPEAKER_00: We just need another reminder of who God is.
SPEAKER_00: And we we do that, we experience that when we rest.
SPEAKER_00: And it's funny because right after this, the text says, the Lord will fight for you.
SPEAKER_00: You need only be still.
SPEAKER_00: So he's saying we got to remember, and then we we gotta stand firm and then be still.
SPEAKER_00: You see, most of us aren't gonna be standing in front of a Red Sea.
SPEAKER_00: You know, some of us are gonna be standing in the pressure of a stack of bills that we can't pay.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us are standing before a doctor's appointment with a new diagnosis.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us are standing before a red sea of a job that seems that there's not certainty of a future.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us are standing before kids and not knowing what the future is going to bring with them.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us are standing before parents that are getting older and we're wondering how are we going to survive?
SPEAKER_00: How are we going to go through this?
SPEAKER_00: It's a different sea, but it's still a red sea.
SPEAKER_00: It's still pressure.
SPEAKER_00: The pressure's the same.
SPEAKER_00: So, what do we do?
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes we react and we lose sleep, we replay every possible outcome in our mind, we try to control everything, we we start making decisions based on our emotions, and we convince ourselves that if I worry enough, somehow that'll fix it.
SPEAKER_00: Man, can I ask you a quick question?
SPEAKER_00: How many miracles has worry ever produced in your life?
SPEAKER_00: How many marriages has panic ever healed?
SPEAKER_00: How many doctors' reports has fear ever changed?
SPEAKER_00: How many bills have ever been paid because you had a sleepless night?
SPEAKER_00: Never, not any.
SPEAKER_00: Because panic has never, ever been the language of faith.
SPEAKER_00: You see, there comes a moment when faith says, I don't know how God's going to work this out, but I'm going to trust Him through it.
SPEAKER_00: You see, that's rest.
SPEAKER_00: It's not the absence of problems, it's the presence of peace in the midst of our problems.
SPEAKER_00: And that's why Moses says something that's almost sounds impossible in verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: He says, The Lord will fight for you.
SPEAKER_00: You only need to be still.
SPEAKER_00: That's not God telling them to ignore the problem.
SPEAKER_00: It's not God dismissing the problem.
SPEAKER_00: The problem is a reality.
SPEAKER_00: The problem's real.
SPEAKER_00: It's God telling you that the battle that you're trying to fight with worry is a battle that belongs to Him.
SPEAKER_00: So what are we called to do?
SPEAKER_00: We're called to remember.
SPEAKER_00: Remember how good God is.
SPEAKER_00: We're called to rest, and in that rest find the peace that God is who he said he is.
SPEAKER_00: And then here's the third progression that we see, and these are the words of God speaking to Moses, and that is where we simply respond.
SPEAKER_00: Number three, respond when God says move.
SPEAKER_00: You know, obedience always requires action.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the tension in our story.
SPEAKER_00: Moses is telling everybody to be still.
SPEAKER_00: It's almost as if he's saying, let's just lengthen this time, let's just lengthen this moment and don't do anything, and let's watch what God's going to provide.
SPEAKER_00: And I love this because it's as if God is getting onto Moses because he says, Why are you crying to me?
SPEAKER_00: In other words, I've already shown you my power, I've always shown you my glory.
SPEAKER_00: You just have to remember who I am.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, you just need to find some peace in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: You need to rest in this moment as you stand before me and trust me.
SPEAKER_00: And then he says, Tell the people to move forward.
SPEAKER_00: You see, it's interesting.
SPEAKER_00: There's a time to pray, there's a time to wait, and then there's a time to move, because faith never stands still.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, we know that faith without works is dead.
SPEAKER_00: And God is very simply telling them, You have faith, now move forward in that faith.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the kicker.
SPEAKER_00: Here's where you're moving forward, bring God's brings God glory.
SPEAKER_00: Is God didn't show Moses the whole plan.
SPEAKER_00: He had given him a little insight of what he was going to do.
SPEAKER_00: He had declared to them where they were going to go.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't show them the entire plan.
SPEAKER_00: He just instructed them what they needed to do next.
SPEAKER_00: Move forward without knowing everything.
SPEAKER_00: Church family, please hear this.
SPEAKER_00: There's going to be many, many times in your life when you're in a place that you're going to get upset.
SPEAKER_00: There's going to be many times in your life where you're going to be faced with challenges and you're going to feel like you're at a dead end.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to feel like the enemy is coming down behind you.
SPEAKER_00: There's impassable mountains on the side of you.
SPEAKER_00: There's a dead end in front of you.
SPEAKER_00: And you're in that place where you just don't know what to do.
SPEAKER_00: And you're going to question who God is.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to question what God can do, how powerful He is.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to look back at the things that all of that He has done, and you're going to say, How much of this was just me?
SPEAKER_00: Was God in this?
SPEAKER_00: You're going to forget to rest in the Lord in that moment.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to get worked up, you're going to get stressed up, your blood pressure's going to rise, and you're going to get the Monday morning blues no matter what day of the week it is.
SPEAKER_00: And just like the Israelites, we're going to say things like, God, did you bring us here just to suffer?
SPEAKER_00: God, did you bring me here to show me that this new Christian life is just going to be a life where I'm on the short end of the stick?
SPEAKER_00: You're going to say things like, Did you lead me into this just to punish me or just to try to beat me down or just to die?
SPEAKER_00: No, sir.
SPEAKER_00: And no, ma'am.
SPEAKER_00: God brought you here on this path, in this way, so in the pressure, he can receive praise, honor, and glory.
SPEAKER_00: So God simply says, respond.
SPEAKER_00: And in verse 16, he shows us how to do this.
SPEAKER_00: He tells Moses, Raise your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
SPEAKER_00: You see, what God was saying is, I've already given you everything that you've need.
SPEAKER_00: All you have to do is step forward in faith.
SPEAKER_00: And so this progression and this pressure, very simply, he says, Remember me and then rest in me, find peace in me, and then respond in me.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let what you don't know keep you from obeying who you do know.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want to show you something pretty cool as we close out.
SPEAKER_00: Because in the middle of this text, where we see Moses is telling the Israelites, he says, All you've got to do is stand still and the Lord will provide salvation.
SPEAKER_00: You just be still.
SPEAKER_00: And then we see that God kind of comes back and says, Stop crying to me.
SPEAKER_00: In that text, in verse 14, the Lord will fight for you.
SPEAKER_00: You only need to be still, is what Moses says.
SPEAKER_00: Now that phrase, be still, is a powerful phrase.
SPEAKER_00: It's actually better translated as be silent.
SPEAKER_00: I love to think of it like this.
SPEAKER_00: All of the Israelites are chattering, they're upset, they're nervous, they're they're getting on Facebook and telling everybody how bad it's going to be, they're saying goodbyes, you know, they're going to AI and saying, how can we build a boat?
SPEAKER_00: They're doing everything they can.
SPEAKER_00: Their minds are filled with noise.
SPEAKER_00: They're upset, they're talking.
SPEAKER_00: But that word be still literally means to be silent.
SPEAKER_00: It's like Moses is saying, Shush.
SPEAKER_00: It comes from the Hebrew word karash, and I need to get you need to grasp this because it literally means to hold your peace, to hold on to the peace that you found because you've remembered, and now that you've rested.
SPEAKER_00: And when that peace comes, we're called to just stop all the noise.
SPEAKER_00: Now let me tell you what's what else is amazing about this word karash.
SPEAKER_00: Because it's used many other times in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: And this word carash is a word that's used that means a farmer putting a plow to the ground.
SPEAKER_00: Or it also means a craftsman engraving something in the stone.
SPEAKER_00: So, with both of those understandings of this word and how it's used, to be still, to shush, it means to shush and put your plow down in the ground.
SPEAKER_00: It means to engrave something in stone.
SPEAKER_00: It means literally to make a mark.
SPEAKER_00: I believe God's word is telling us through this word.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying what God's going to do because you have remembered, because you've rested, because you've been obedient and moved forward, he's about to leave a mark through your obedience.
SPEAKER_00: I love this picture.
SPEAKER_00: He says, be quiet, be still, rest, remember, stop complaining, stop telling the world how unfair life is.
SPEAKER_00: Stop trying to figure things out, letting the fear do all the talking.
SPEAKER_00: And just simply move forward and make a mark.
SPEAKER_00: I think of the farmer when he puts a plow down.
SPEAKER_00: He's not talking, he's just running that plow because he's getting ready for a seed to be planted, that that seed will sprout and grow and produce much fruit.
SPEAKER_00: I think of an engraver when he takes a blank slate and he begins engraving words on that, literally, that will be written in stone forever.
SPEAKER_00: It's a beautiful picture of our testimony that produces fruit so God can receive the glory.
SPEAKER_00: So, what is the story telling us about how we can persevere through these pressures of life?
SPEAKER_00: Well, here's your takeaway.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to remember what God has done.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to rest in who God is.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to respond to where God leads and let it leave a mark that's going to always point back to Him.
SPEAKER_00: I believe God is doing something amazing in every moment of your life when we experience pressure.
SPEAKER_00: We just need to remember, we need to rest, and we need to respond.
SPEAKER_00: Let me pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I thank you for this day.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you for this moment in time that you have given us, God, for uh this specific portion of Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: And God, I know that we live in a broken world and pressures are going to come, they're going to continue to come.
SPEAKER_00: But Lord, for the person out there right now that's struggling, God, I pray that you would just help them remember that you are good, God.
SPEAKER_00: Help them remember that you drew them from the miry clay, God.
SPEAKER_00: And you have a plan and a purpose for their life.
SPEAKER_00: God, I pray for the person who's in the midst of worry right now, God, that you would just help them to rest and find peace in you.
SPEAKER_00: God, on the foundation of who you are and what you've done and the fact that we have remembered.
SPEAKER_00: And Father, I pray for a boldness that you would help us to respond in accordance to your will.
SPEAKER_00: God, we know that that's going to always require faith.
SPEAKER_00: So, Lord, help us trust in you in these moments and times where we feel like we're between a rock and a hard place, whatever it may be.
SPEAKER_00: So, God, I thank you once again for this word today.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for continuing to speak to us and helping us to live a faith filled life that'll always leave a mark.
SPEAKER_00: We love you and we praise you.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.