Does God work against us?
If you are a child of God, then He is never working against you and He is not your enemy.
February 1
The LORD continued to strengthen Pharaoh’s resolve, and he chased after the people of Israel who had escaped so defiantly.
Exodus 14:8
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Does God work against us?
Have you ever felt like God was working against you? Have there been times in your life when you feel like God is fighting you? Maybe you have felt that God wasn’t really on your side, at all. This may have been how the Israelites felt as they are running from the army of Egypt. God has just delivered the people of Israel from four hundred years of bondage in the nation of Egypt. It took ten plagues to finally convince Pharaoh to let the people of God go. After three days Pharaoh realizes that the Israelites aren’t coming back, and so he sets out after them.
God had a plan to deal with Pharaoh’s arrogant idea that he was a god in human form. At the same time God planned to prove to the people of Israel that there was no God like Him. To accomplish this, God was going to have to get Pharaoh’s army and the people of Israel into just the right location. God spoke to Moses and gave them the path they were to follow. That path led them to the edge of the Red Sea.
Pharaoh and his army of chariots set out after them. They wouldn’t have been hard to follow with some two million people all moving together. Our text says that the LORD strengthened Pharaoh’s resolve. This means that the LORD caused Pharaoh to get all worked up about getting the Israelites back into bondage in Egypt. God had no intention of allowing that to happen, but that is what He convinced Pharaoh to attempt to do.
Pharaoh was an enemy of God. His heart was hard toward God and His people. What we sometimes fail to realize is that God is still in control, even of His enemies. God had just manifested His great power over Pharaoh, and still he refused to submit himself to Almighty God. The LORD is about to punish Pharaoh for his hardness of heart, and at the same time teach the people of God to trust in Him and His power. God manifested His power by parting the Red Sea so the Israelites could escape Pharaoh’s army, and then closed the sea upon Pharaoh’s army as they pursued the Israelites.
There will be times when it feels like an enemy or a circumstance is threatening to overwhelm you. It is at those times that we need to remember that God is in complete control. He is in control of your life, your circumstance, and even your enemies. God told the people through Moses to stand and watch Him rescue them. As we find ourselves backed up against a sea of troubles, with a terrifying enemy about to overwhelm us, we need to do just what God told the Israelites to do. Watch for how God is going to rescue us from our troubles and our enemies.
God may be strengthening the resolve of your enemies to chase after you so that He can deal with them. God might have led you to this sea of trouble so that you can learn just how mighty He really is. If you are a child of God, then He is never working against you and He is not your enemy. God is working for you to draw you ever nearer to Him, to His presence, to His power, and to His pleasure. Jesus, help us to look to You when we are backed up against a sea of troubles.
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