The book had literally jumped off the shelf at me. At a Books-A-Million store the bright red cover was screaming for me to take it home. Not very big, I read the title, The Red Sea Rules, written by Robert J. Morgan, a pastor near Nashville, Tennessee. I put it back, looked at another book, went back to the red book again and not knowing exactly why, I purchased it.
When I got home I thought I would take an initial glimpse. The following quote is how Robert Morgan starts the first chapter.
“The Lord will make a way for you where no foot has been before. That which, like the sea, threatens to drown you, shall be a highway for your escape.” Charles Spurgeon
What a quote. The greatest challenge, the insurmountable odds that is layed out against you, that situation you found yourself in that can not be explained, will actually be the reason you escape the danger. Just think about that for a moment.
After completing the book, I used the quote often. In a note, email, text, left it on a napkin in a restaurant, I could not get it into the hands of enough people. And the book itself? Bought multiple copies and gave it to people I thought could benefit. And through this process I kept thanking God that He would allow me to be able to help all these poor distraught people who could not help themselves. Thank goodness they had me. Or so I thought.
Then I came to my personal Red Sea experience. It became very clear very quickly that the book and that quote, though it had helped many people, the book was put into my path for me. For my “standing at the edge of the Red Sea not having a clue how to move, knowing I am, as they say, a goner, type of experience.”
I began to read over and over Exodus 14 which deals with this situation. The children of Israel could not go forward because of the sea, backward because of the fast approaching Egyptian army or to the right or to the left because of terrain.
And God chose the sea to be the highway for their escape.
Even as you are reading this post you may feel hemmed in. You may believe it is only a matter of time before you are drowned by your circumstances. Let me give you an example as to how God can use this situation and lead you through it.
A friend of mine, whose name is David, (his real name), and I were talking about this book one day and his experience at the Red Sea of his life. A once successful businessman, now with multiple businesses in economic ruin, he witnessed his brother’s death in a motorcycle accident, he lost his mother to a long debilitating illness, I could go on and on. All this in a relatively short span of time.
But you know what? I bet you all the money in my pockets against all the money in your pockets that if you sat down across from him at the Waffle House he frequents and asked him how he has made it thus far, he would say, “I tell you you man, God has been faithful.” Faithful? After losing so much? How could anyone say God is faithful after all that?
One person’s tragedy is another person’s defining moment. One man’s appointment with death is another man’s highway of escape.
If not you, someone you know or will soon meet is at their own Red Sea with no obvious path of escape. I would challenge you to write the Charles Spurgeon quote down in your handwriting on multiple pieces of paper and watch how many opportunities God gives you to leave it with someone. I promise you it will happen.
And when they ask you of your confidence in this God, you can follow up with this wonderful verse in the New Living Translation from the Bible.
“Your road led through the sea, Your pathway through the mighty waters – a pathway no one knew was there.” Psalm 77:19
A person with no way to escape will continue walking if you just give them Hope to continue.
JHH
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