Crossing Your Red Sea
“Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward.”
—EX. 14:15
One of the most dramatic stories in the Bible is the episode of the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea.
Moses was leading them out of the land of Egypt where they were kept in bondage and slavery. They were being pursued by the Egyptians.
The children of Israel, like most people, did not enjoy trusting God; they did a lot of murmuring. They said to Moses: “Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”
“And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today, for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever.”
“The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”
We might say that Moses pounded faith into the children of Israel.
They preferred being slaves to their old doubts and fears (for Egypt stands for darkness), than to take the giant swing into faith, and pass through the wilderness to their Promised Land.
There is, indeed, a wilderness to pass through before your Promised Land is reached.
The old doubts and fears encamp round about you, but there is always someone to tell you to go forward! There is always a Moses on your pathway. Sometimes it is a friend, sometimes intuition!
“And the Lord said to Moses, Wherefore cryest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward!”
Now remember, the bible is talking about the individual. It is talking about your wilderness, your Red Sea, and your Promised Land.
Each one of you has a Promised Land, a heart’s desire, but you have been so enslaved by the Egyptians (your negative thoughts), it seems very far away, and too good to be true. You consider trusting God a very risky proposition. The wilderness might prove worse than the Egyptians. And how do you know your Promised Land really exists?
The reasoning mind will always back up the Egyptians.
But sooner or later, something says, “Go forward!” It is usually circumstances—you are driven to it.
I give the example of a student. She is a very marvelous pianist and had great success abroad. She came back with a book full of press clippings, and a happy heart.
A relative took an interest in her and said she would back her financially for a concert tour. They chose a manager who took charge of the expenses, and attended to her bookings.
After a concert or two, there were no more funds. The manager had taken them. My friend was left stranded, desolate, and disappointed. This was about the time that she came to me.
She hated the man, and it was making her ill. She had very little money and could afford only a cheerless room where her hands were often too cold to practice.
She was indeed, in bondage to the Egyptians—hate, resentment, lack, and limitation.
Someone brought her to one of my meetings, and she spoke to me and told her story. I said, “In the first place you must stop hating that man. When you are able to forgive him, your success will come back to you. You are taking your initiation in forgiveness.”
It seemed a pretty big order, but she tried and came regularly to all my meetings.
In the meantime, the relative had started a suit to recover the money. Time went on and it never came to court.
My friend had a call to go to California. She was no longer disturbed by the situation, and had forgiven the man.
Suddenly, after about four years, she was notified that the case had come to court. She called me upon her arrival in New York, and asked me to speak the word for rightness and justice.
They went at the time appointed, and it was all settled out of court, the man restoring the money by monthly payments.
She came to me overflowing with joy, for she said, “I hadn’t the least resentment toward the man. He was amazed when I greeted him cordially.” Her relative said that all the money was to go to her, so she found herself with a big bank account.
Now she will soon reach her Promised Land. She came out of the house of bondage (of hate and resentment) and crossed her Red Sea. Her goodwill toward the man caused the waters to part, and she crossed over on dry land.