The next hero of the faith presented by the Hebrew writer is actually the entire Israelite people:

“By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.” Hebrews 11:29

The full story of the crossing of the Red sea and the drowning of the Egyptian army can be found in Exodus 13:17-15:21.

Seeing an underdog win awakens our imaginations as to what is possible. Part of our American Dream is the belief that anyone can succeed by pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps, but the book of Hebrews presents us with a different type of underdog story. These are not stories of human power and determination, but rather of God’s faithfulness and design. There was nothing 90-year-old Sarah could have done to be able to bear a child, and Moses and his parents were powerless compared to Pharaoh.

Israel’s situation at the Red Sea was no different. The Israelites were clearly the underdogs as they departed from Egypt to claim the land God had promised to their ancestor Abraham. Having been enslaved for generations, they had no opportunity to train an army, and their only weapons were the items that their Egyptian neighbors gave them as they left the country. Swords and spears afforded them little protection against a powerfully trained army equipped with horses and chariots. Even though the Israelites left Egypt ready for battle, God recognized that they were not ready to face the powerful Philistines, so He led them on a less direct route to the Promised Land. The Israelites had legitimate reasons to be fearful, but like the rest of the “by faith” accounts we have been studying, the author’s focus is not on Israel’s ability, but on God’s. Pharaoh may have thought he was entering into a showdown with the Israelites at the Red Sea, but he was really going to battle with the Lord God.

When Fear Gives Way to Faith, We Begin to Recognize God is With Us.

Even though the Israelites had front row seats to watch the plagues in Egypt, the writer of Hebrews credits Moses as having the faith. But by the time the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, the author credits the people as having the faith. God recognized the need to bolster their faith and He did so by leading them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Those miraculous signs represented God’s presence with them, even in the face of fearful circumstances. Eugene Peterson writes in Every Step an Arrival, “when we exclude hard things from the things we value, we miss great opportunities to experience the presence of God.” (p. 159). Fear can keep us from facing hard things, but faith allows us to experience the presence of God in the midst of hard things.

When Fear Gives Way to Faith, We See God Work in Unanticipated Ways.

As they left Egypt, the Israelites experienced the freedom they and their ancestors had longed for — and they finally had an opportunity to keep their promise to Joseph and his old bones. Perhaps recognizing that God had answered prayer helped the Israelites hold on to faith when the events of the Exodus did not unfold as they had hoped.

As they traveled to the Promised Land, we can suspect that the Israelites wondered what God was doing. Their direction of travel didn’t make a lot of sense. We can certainly understand their need to cry out to God when they saw the powerful Egyptian army coming toward them as they were pinned against the Red Sea. The Israelites’ fear was very real and understandable, but they did not hold on to their fear in a way that limited God’s ability to work.

Moses’ confidence in God was surely an anchor for the Israelites, but even his guidance to “stand firm” fell short of fully foreseeing the scope of God’s intervention. When God commanded the Israelites to move on, He drove back the sea so that they could cross on dry ground — and then He drowned the entire Egyptian army — a double miracle! God saved Israel and He did so in a way that was completely unanticipated. He is truly able to do above and beyond what we could ever ask or even imagine!
When Fear Gives Way to Faith, We Have an Opportunity to Worship God.

After the Israelites experienced these miracles, they had two options: They could sit on the bank of the Red Sea and shake their heads in amazement or they could get moving before someone else came after them.

Instead, the Israelites chose to worship. They responded to God’s actions with reverence and trust — the elements necessary for true worship to be offered. They worshiped by exalting God in song, “I will sing to the Lord for He is highly exalted. Both horse and driver He has hurled into the sea!” Exodus 15 gives us the words to the entire hymn the Israelites offered in worship to the LORD.

Mark Yaconelli, in his book, The Gift of Hard Things, observes, “Living is an art, and there are no formulas, no designated methods for dealing with hard things. There is only the waiting, and the listening, and the dancing when life springs forth”. Life can be hard, and we may face times when we wonder if God is winning. Still, we can make the faith choice to worship as we anticipate the display of God’s power and authority over our hard things.

My friends, God is with us. Jesus has promised that He would never leave us or forsake us. We have something greater than a pillar of fire and clouds — we have the presence of almighty God residing within us! He is able to work in ways that are unexpected and beyond what we can imagine. Do you believe it? If so, then live by faith and worship your heavenly Father — even in the midst of hard things.

(A note from Tim Hartzell: This past Sunday our staff pastor, Rev. Carey Richards, presented the weekly sermon at our church. With her permission, I have edited it to serve as a Faith Conversations article. Her sermon continues our “Live By Faith” series. I pray that your faith will be encouraged by her words.)