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Word UP with Webb
Daily Devotion for Teens and Students
Word UP with Webb
Breaking Free from Your Egypt: Trusting God in Difficult Times
Have you ever found yourself looking back at what you left behind when facing new challenges? That's exactly what the Israelites did when trapped between Pharaoh's army and the Red Sea. Despite witnessing God's miraculous deliverance from slavery, their immediate response was fear, complaint, and a bizarre longing for their former bondage.
This powerful devotional draws a compelling parallel between Jesus facing temptation in the wilderness and our own tendency to retreat to familiar territory when challenges arise. The wilderness isn't a one-time experience—it's a recurring journey we all face throughout our spiritual lives. The crucial difference between victory and defeat lies not in our strength, but in recognizing that Jesus has already overcome every temptation Satan could throw at Him.
When standing at our personal Red Seas, we often create elaborate explanations for our circumstances rather than trusting God's proven faithfulness. We forget the slavery we've been rescued from and romanticize our past. The devotional offers practical guidance through reflective questions to identify our personal "Egypts"—those comfortable but destructive patterns, relationships, and priorities that once dominated our pre-Christ lives. What draws you back when God is calling you forward? What distractions have replaced your quiet time with Him? Which relationships pull you away rather than strengthen your faith?
God already has the escape route planned for whatever wilderness you're facing. The battle has already been won. Will you trust Him enough to keep walking forward, refusing to look back at what He's delivered you from? Take time today to honestly assess what's pulling you backward, then recommit to moving forward with Christ, knowing His plan is always better than returning to your Egypt.
Good morning guys. Welcome to Word Up on this Thursday morning. I'm so glad that you have joined us but, as always, most importantly, have you been in God's Word today? Our quiet time for today is Exodus, chapter 14, verses 10 through 31. If you have not had your quiet time, pause right here. Go spend time in God's Word and come back and let's see what God has shown us.
Speaker 1:Last night in our student ministry, we went to Matthew, chapter 4, and talked about the temptation of Jesus and how we will all face the wilderness in our life, probably multiple times. Well, guaranteed, you're going to face it multiple times. This is not a one-time thing and we'll all face temptation. And Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to face that temptation so that we would know where we can turn. Guys, you don't have the strength to overcome it. You do not have the strength to overcome Satan and his temptations in the wilderness, but Jesus has gone and he has shown you that he can overcome it. So that is who we must turn to if we expect to defeat Satan and to get out of the wilderness. Today and our quiet times this week are you're going to follow that message? They're going to tie back in. What we're wanting to do is for our student ministry and all of you listening is just to have that whole message come to life, to build off of it and to see what God is showing us in other places in his word.
Speaker 1:And so today, in Exodus, chapter 14, starting in verse 10, I'm going to read just a few lines here. It says as Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were Egyptians coming after them. The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help. They said to Moses is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Isn't it what we told you in Egypt? Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians. It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.
Speaker 1:Guys, how many times in our life when we hit those hard places, you know, maybe some of you are just starting your walk with Christ. You're just now beginning to follow him and you've made this commitment. You've stepped out, you've started studying God's Word, you've made it a few steps and now, all of a sudden, you're facing another storm. Are you willing to continue to follow Him, continue to seek Him? Do you trust His promises or are you looking back to where you came from? See, just like the Israelites, god has already provided and, as you see in the next part of this scripture, he provides the escape through the Red Sea. He already has the plan for how he's going to carry you through the storm that you're facing.
Speaker 1:But the problem is that we lose hope. We lose our focus on Christ. We lose sight of the fact that Jesus has already gone into the wilderness himself. He's already faced every temptation that Satan could throw and he overcame it. He already has a plan for how he's going to bring you out of this wilderness.
Speaker 1:But we immediately start looking back to our old ways and our old life and we think, well, I'd rather just stay there. I mean, we get skeptical of, we start having conspiracy theories about why we're where we are, just like they started saying to Moses is it because there were no graves in Egypt? They're thinking Moses was doing some work for the Egyptian people Because there were no graves. He was leading them out there to die so they wouldn't have to worry about burying them. We immediately think the worst. We get in our heads and we start trying to figure out why things are happening, instead of just trusting God's plan, instead of seeing what he's doing and that he has our back and that he's walking with us, we began the blame game and we began trying to figure out all the pieces to what's happening. And it even says what have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? I wish you would have just left us there. They forgot about all the hard times and all the mistreatment and all the things that were happening to them in Egypt. And at this point, just because the mountain looks too tall, they're ready to go back.
Speaker 1:Guys, that's just like us. It sounds crazy when we're reading this, because we know the end of the story, but the thing is in our own life. You've got to know the end of the story. You've got to know that the battle was already won, that when you place your trust and faith in Jesus Christ, that he is with you, he has already overcome everything that you're going to face and you've got to trust him and continue to walk forward. Do not look back, do not go back to your old ways, don't go back to those old friends, don't go back to the things that used to be important to you. Continue to walk forward with Christ. Continue to watch what he's going to do in your life and how he's going to use you to reach so many others.
Speaker 1:What is it? What are your Egypts? I've got a few challenge questions for you today, and I want you to take out a pen, take out a piece of paper, and I want you to write down these questions and, throughout the day, I want you to truly just focus on Christ, focus on God and what he's showing you.
Speaker 1:What are the Egypts in your life?
Speaker 1:What are the things that were important to you before your relationship with Christ? Are you trying to go back to those? Have you stopped investing in your quiet time with God and are you back to investing in the things that were distracting you before? Have you moved away from certain relationships in your life that were dragging you down, that were pulling you away from Christ, and now, all of a sudden, you've decided to go back to that? What are your Egypts and are you trying to go back Now, once you've identified that, how can you, instead of going back, can you trust God to carry you through the wilderness?
Speaker 1:What are the steps that you need to take? To trust God more and to know that His plan's greater and to keep walking forward through the wilderness. Guys, his plan is always better. If you can go through these questions, if you can put on paper what God's revealing to you, what he's showing to you, and be willing to step out on faith, trust him, knowing that the end has already been won, you'll see him do miracles in your life. Guys, I love you. Thank you for joining us Tomorrow. We're actually going back to the actual passage that we talked about with Jesus. So tomorrow, your quiet time Matthew 4, 1 through 11. I want you to get in God's Word tomorrow morning. Read that passage again. Know that the enemy is going to attack you when you are weak. Let God help you identify where are you weak and how can you prepare for the enemy. I love you, guys. I'll see you back here tomorrow.