Episode 19- The Lord Will Provide

Welcome back to another week of the Lord's wisdom! Today we are reading an incredible story from Exodus chapter 14. We are also diving into Matthew 6:25-34, Proverbs 3:5-12, and Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV. Thanks for following along! 

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to the Full Armor of God podcast. My name is Taylor. I am so excited to host you for episode 19. Thank you for coming back for another week of the Lord's wisdom. It is so good to be here with you today. It is so good to be in the Lord's word together. I am thrilled about today's message. We're talking about how the Lord will provide. Our main story is going to come from Exodus chapter 14. Now we've been in Exodus before. We kind of skipped over chapter 14. Because I was saving it for this message in particular. It is such a good story. It's when the Israelites are in Exodus, actively leaving Egypt, and God makes a way where there is no way. So that's where our main story is coming from today. We are also going to jump into Matthew chapter 6, verses 25 through 34. This is part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. And we're also tying in Proverbs 3 today. We're going to jump right in, Exodus chapter 14. We're going to read from verses 5 and on. If you have your Bible open, I encourage you to read along with me or at least come back to this story sometime throughout this week. It is too good to not reread. This is right after the 10th plague when Pharaoh told Moses to get all the Israelites and basically get out of Egypt. He did not want them there anymore. The last plague was the worst plague, and it was the one that drove them out of Egypt. Now remember, there's also this hardening of Pharaoh's hearts that we talked about when we went through the 10 plagues of Egypt, how there can be a heart of clay and a heart of butter. And when both are sitting outside in the sun, one gets hard and one gets softer and kind of melts. Pharaoh has that heart of clay. So when it says God is hardening Pharaoh's heart, he's not making Pharaoh do anything. We all have free will. But I just wanted to remind us of that because that is mentioned in here. Okay, chapter 14, verse 5. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, What have we done? We've let the Israelites go and lost their services. So he had chariots made ready and took his army with him. He took 600 of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites who were marching out boldly. The Egyptians, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen and troops, pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they encamped by the sea near Pihakira, opposite Baalzephon. 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 out 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. Moses is steadfast in his faith. Moses answered the people, Do not be afraid. Stand firm, and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. And then in verse 14, this is our key verse of the day. The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still. In verse 15, I love this. Then the Lord said to Moses, Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of all the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his armies, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. Verse 19. Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night, the cloud brought darkness to one side and light to the other side. So neither went near the other all night long. Remember that pillar of smoke, that pillar of cloud, and that pillar of fire representing God's presence. God is still with them the whole time. He is leading them, he is protecting them. He's not just watching from afar, he is in this with them. I also just love the Lord's response to Moses when he says, Why are you crying out to me? Obviously, we're going to walk through the ocean on dry ground. Did you not see what I did in Egypt? Come on, let's go. Raise your staff. It's just so dead. God's got a sense of humor. Verse 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. And all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground with a wall of water on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea during the last watch of the night. The Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of the chariot so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, Let's get away from the Israelites. The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt. Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and their horsemen. Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back into its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived. But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day, the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and Moses, his servant. This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. But I just want to go back. Exodus chapter 14, verse 14, to that verse, the Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still. Last week we talked a little bit about spiritual stillness. And I think this is a perfect opportunity to elaborate on this because spiritual stillness, it's not physically sitting or waiting for something to happen. The Israelites still had to walk through the water. They still had to do a difficult thing. Their enemies were still pursuing them as they walked through the sea. Just because God makes a way doesn't mean that it's not difficult. There's still work for us to do. However, this spiritual stillness is the absence of worry or fear because it's the knowledge and steadfast faith of who is with you and who is for you. Just like when Moses said, Do not be afraid, stand firm, stand firm in your faith, and you will see the deliverance that the Lord will bring you today. The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still. He was speaking to their souls when they were losing it, saying, You should have left us in Egypt. It would have been better for us to die there. Moses is watching their faith and their peace become completely unraveled in this moment of what looks like it's about to be certain death and pain and suffering. Moses is speaking to their souls, saying, Remember who is with us. He could have said, Remember all the ways, all the things that he did in Egypt over those last 10 plagues, how he delivered us from each one of those, when he showed us how he was fighting for us, how he was leading us, how he was protecting us then. He's going to do the same now. It's like when we talked about Joshua and taking the stones from the river when they crossed into the promised land and setting up the stones to remember that great moment that again the Lord parted the waters for them to walk across the Nile into the promised land to remember all that happened and all that the Lord has done for us. And just like this story, when they went into the promised land, they didn't just waltz right in and take all the land and start tilling it and farming and having a great time right away. There were battles to still be won. There was still work to do. But that was the same message, which takes place after this, that it is here that God is with us. He is going to make a way where there is no way. And the reminder that we have to ourselves, to our souls, is to not be afraid to stand firm in faith and to be still. This is part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. These are words unread. These are Jesus' words himself. He says, Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life. What you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear, is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes. Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or sow away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith? So do not worry saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Friends, God is after our hearts, constantly calling us back to him, to rely on him. He knows that our hearts need more than clothes, more than food. They need love, they need appreciation and joy and purpose, and he provides all of that and more. Jesus is saying, Don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? When the Israelites were fearful and worrying to Moses, telling all their fears, all their doubts, all their anxious thoughts, that was not adding a second of time to their life. Oftentimes our worry and anxiety, they don't even come from the problem itself. It comes from us forgetting and losing sight of who is with us and for us, who goes before us and behind us, who fights on our behalf and provides for us. We're gonna read from Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 through 12. Just as a refresher Proverbs is a book of wisdom, and it's written from the perspective of a father writing to his son and passing down his wisdom. So Proverbs chapter 3, verse 5. It says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Verse 9. Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops, then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father, the son he delights in. Spiritual stillness looks like trusting in the Lord with all your heart, trusting that he will give you the peace that you need today, trusting that he will give you the joy that you need today, trusting that he will give you the strength that you need today. His mercies are new every morning. His presence and his peace are there for us to receive every single day. And then in verse 9, when he talks about honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruit of all your crops, then your barns will be filled to overflowing. This verse is about the first fruit of all of our crops. So what are we growing? What are we stewarding? We have jobs that we work, we have income that we steward, we have thoughts that we steward, we have relationships like marriage and family and children. All of these things are our crops that God has blessed us with. And we have the responsibility and the honor of stewarding them and honoring the Lord with our wealth looks like honoring and inviting the Lord into all of it, inviting him into our finances, inviting him into our marriage, inviting him into the broken parts and the good parts of our life, inviting him into every area of our life, into every crop that we have, the first fruits of them all, because he can do so much more through us and for us and by his strength than we could do on our own. With him, our barns will be overflowing. With him, our vats will brim over with new wine. Our invitation is to bring it all to the Lord. All of our fears, all of our doubts, all of our worries, all of our struggles, all of our moments that we feel like our back is literally up against the wall, and there is no way. Our invitation is to bring it all to the Lord. He knows exactly what we need, and he will exceed our expectations when given the chance. Things that are impossible for us to do in our own strength are more than possible with the Lord. Forgiving that person that hurt you is possible with the Lord. Reconciling the relationship with that difficult family member is possible with the Lord. Providing for your family is possible with the Lord. Navigating a difficult and painful season is possible with the Lord. I have one more verse for us. It's from the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 31, verse 8. These are Moses' words again. And this is after everything that they have been through in the wilderness and they are about to enter into the promised land. Moses knows he's not going with them. And the book of Deuteronomy, this is one of his key pieces of advice for them in chapter 31, verse 8. He says, The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. Friends, he is with us and he is for us. Let's bring it all to the Lord today, commanding our souls to be still, knowing that the God of the universe is with us, fighting on our behalf, that he will make a way where there is no way, and that he will provide. I want to thank you for joining me for another week, for allowing me to come alongside you in whatever season you're walking through. We are here to encourage one another in the faith and to share the Lord's love and his goodness and his kindness with all those around us. I'm just so thankful that we're here together and we are learning his word as we grow in our faith so that we can live open handedly with that to others. Friends, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. I cannot wait to see you next week. I'll talk to you soon. God bless you.