Boxed in by God

Rob Salvato opens this Sunday message in Exodus 14 with Israel's most iconic crisis — boxed in between two mountains and the Red Sea, Pharaoh's army closing fast — and presses the question the text raises for every believer: why would God deliberately lead his people somewhere they appear completely trapped? Two answers emerge: God uses boxed-in moments first to grow faith (J.D. Greear's quote lands here — the truest test of faith isn't how we respond when miracles happen, but when they don't — with Israel's selective memory already romanticizing Egypt as exhibit A), and second to reveal himself in new ways, specifically here as the Waymaker, who doesn't remove the problem but makes a way through it, consistent with Philippians 1:6's promise that he who started a good work will carry it to completion. The application lands in three commands Moses gives at the sea: put aside fear by standing on God's promises rather than your emotions (2 Timothy 1:7); stand still and know that he is God (Psalm 46:10), resisting both the urge to run and the urge to fix it yourself; and then, when the moment comes, go forward — because there is a time to pray and wait, and there is a time to move.