My wife and I will be married 34 years in December. As I think about all the time I have known Charis (38 years), I become mindful of who and what she has been to me through these years. For example:
When we started college – she was a causal friend
When we started dating – she was a close friend
When we became engaged – she was my best friend
When we got married – she became my wife
When we entered ministry – she became the one I serve God with
You see, our relationship deepened over time. We have gone through difficult times with devastating illnesses, financial trials, and strong pressures that come from being in the ministry. However, these difficult times have opened my eyes wider to my wife as she truly is.
She is now my closest, dearest, best friend.
She is the one the Lord uses most often to encourage me.
She is the one the Lord uses to remind me of the Lord’s perfections
She is the one the Lord uses to labor right beside me.
God allows adversities to come across our paths. He allows times that are quite overwhelming, and seemingly unable for us to bear. However, it is during those times that the Lord reveals Himself to you in a new way, which you have yet to see Him. Who is the Lord to you today? Turn to Exodus 15.
The Israelites have just gone through some very overwhelming struggles with the Egyptians.
They endured slavery of the cruelest sort.
They survived the plagues and the wrath of Pharaoh
They were able to leave their captors – only to be hunted down like wild beasts.
God protected them with a pillar of fire and a pillar of a cloud (13:21), and then by the parting of the red sea.
Then their enemies used the same route of escape. The dry ground of the red sea to pursue them! All hope seemed to have been lost – until the walls of water fell on their enemies and destroyed them!
Here’s the Point: Events like this tend to change our perspective. The Israelites went from complaining and whining in chapters 13 and 14 to great rejoicing and praising God in chapter 15!
It was the adversities that God used to open their eyes!
Do you need your eyes opened wider today? Does your perspective of who God is need some rearranging?
In the first 21 verses of Exodus 15, the Lord is described in all His glories 22 times! The emphasis here is not on their methods or programs of escaping Egypt. The emphasis is not on Moses or Aaron as the leaders. It is not even on Moses’ grand relationship with the LORD God of heaven. The emphasis is upon the Lord! My view of God will impact my life for God. We must sharpen our focus on the Lord! Who is the Lord to you?
Let’s look at this chapter of praise and recognize the description of our wonderful God!
The Lord is my VICTOR (15:1)
“…For He hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”
The odds were not in the favor of the children of Israel! They had endured captivity for so long that they believed they would be safer under the control of the slave masters than trying to be released from their captivity. Exodus 14:10-12.
BUT…they had been through 10 plagues and witnessed the powerful hand of God. They had seen with their own eyes the red sea parted into walls of water to make ready dry ground for easy travel. They also experienced the continued protection of God with the pillar of fire and the pillar of a cloud never leaving their camp!
Watching fireworks is always exciting. Our eyes were fixed on the sky because we wanted to know what was going to happen next! We wanted to see more of the same! The Israelites had been witnesses to incredible works of God, but their circumstances easily distracted them, and their view of God fell out of focus.
Are you disheartened by your circumstances?
Sharpen your focus on the incredible works of God for all mankind…and for you! Praise the Lord! He has triumphed gloriously!
The Lord is my STRENGTH AND SONG (15:2)
“The LORD is my strength….”
The word strength is seen in the Hebrew form as “force, or security.” The root of this Hebrew word is seen about 245 times throughout scripture. Quite often this word appears in a military context referring to physical strength, power, and the ability to perform in the battle that is in view.
Years ago, we had a mission team travel west to help us work on our building and help us with our first VBS. We would always look for some fun things to do with the mission teams when they came to help with our small church plant. One afternoon we had some time and the guys decided they wanted to challenge the adults to some basketball at a park. I knew that some of these teen guys were quite good at playing basketball. However, I didn’t know how most of the older male sponsors played. When we got to the court any concern I had was wiped away when I saw which adult men were going to play. The adult men had skills!
My view of the situation was uncertain, but when I saw who was on the team, my perspective changed!
The Israelites had an overwhelming anxiety that they couldn’t do what they needed to do to defeat their enemies. They were right – THEY couldn’t defeat the Egyptians. We don’t need to have concern about whether WE can defeat our enemy, the evil one. We need to be centered on the one who is our strength. Jesus Christ, who is our strength, already has defeated him! Our victory is through God who is our strength!
The next phrase of verse 2 says, “The Lord is my song….” In the early 2000’s, my wife and I lived in Colorado with our 5 children. In the middle of one night, our daughter came to our room to tell my wife she didn’t feel well. My wife got up and walked back to her bedroom. The upstairs hallway that led to our bedrooms was all open to the stairway and the front door entry way. Something caught my wife’s eye at 2 in the morning, and she looked closer to find the front door wide open! She came back into our room and in hushed tones, she revealed the door was open and someone might be in the house. With recent crime reports and no guns in the house, I reached for the phone to call 911. We checked our kids’ rooms upstairs to be certain they were all safe, and then the cops showed up with guns drawn as they began to clear the house. With nothing missing and no intruders found, we came to discover that the threshold needed adjusting after recent colder weather so that the door would fully latch. Our peace and restful state were abruptly halted when our view changed!
When we talk ourselves into Biblical reality…when we fight to rehearse truth instead of changing circumstances…we will have peace in our heart and a song of praise to God flowing from our lips! Praise the Lord! He is our strength & song!
The Lord is my SALVATION (15:2)
“…and He is become my salvation.”
Much has threatened the children of Israel. The Lord is and always will be their only hope of salvation!
We are ending another year in 7 weeks. Each one of us can look back over this year and see either the attacks of the evil one or the sorrow of our own sinful choices. However, our view of life drastically changes when our view of God is sharply focused on the Lord, who is my salvation.
Salvation from sin, death, and hell for all eternity!
Salvation from the bondage of sin for this life!
Praise the Lord! The Lord is our salvation!
The Lord is my GOD (15:2)
“…He is my God….”
The Israelites certainly lived in a time when the heathen people around them served a great many gods. There was the sun god, the moon god, the god of war, and the god of peace. In fact, the Pharaoh of Egypt typically believed he himself was a god! What is being said in Exodus 15:2 is – “out of all the other gods, Jehovah is the sole object of my adoration and praise.”
Seeing that the Lord is my victor, and that the Lord is my strength and song, and that the Lord is my salvation – well then, the conclusion at mid-point of this song is that He alone is God. I will worship Him alone! I will glorify Him, and I will exalt Him! Praise the Lord! He alone is my God!
A few years ago, a young pilot was flying his small plane through the clouds. As he climbed higher, he suddenly lost sight of the horizon. Everything outside looked the same—just white and gray. He couldn’t tell if he was right-side up or upside down. He felt his stomach sink and his instincts told him to pull up, so he did. Moments later, his plane started spiraling downward—he was completely disoriented.
Thankfully, he remembered his training: “Trust your instruments, not your feelings.” He locked his eyes on the panel, leveled the wings, and flew by the gauges—not by how it felt.
When he finally broke through the clouds, the horizon appeared again, and he realized how wrong his perception had been.
Your view of God is like that horizon. If your view is cloudy, distorted, or small, your life will drift off course. But when your understanding of who God truly is becomes clear: He is my victor, He is my strength, He is my song, He alone is my God…then your direction and decisions stabilize. How you see God determines how you serve God. Your view of God impacts your life for God! Church, sharpen your focus rehearsing who God truly is and lift your voice in praise to the Lord!