When God Leads to a Dead End

Well, a very good evening to you.

I hope you had a good afternoon.

I hope you did all your napping this afternoon

and that nobody feels like they need to catch a quick nap this evening, all right?

If you have a Bible, we're in Exodus 14.

I don't know if anybody reads through the Bible every year.

Anybody do that as a habit, practice?

Read through the Bible every year?

A couple?

Yeah? All right.

It's a great, that is a great habit to have.

If you're going to have habits, all right,

a good one to have is to try and get through the Bible once a year at least.

I knew one guy that tried to get through the Bible four times a year.

That was a big task.

But you can do it about 20 minutes a day,

try and get through the Bible in a year.

We try to encourage the folks at Corrobras to do that every year.

It's probably better to think of it as getting the Bible through you every year, okay?

So it's not just like this, you know, I'm a bit obsessive-compulsive about things.

So set me a task and I'll just kind of do it.

I don't know that I always do it for the right reasons, but, you know, I've got to do it.

Give me a problem to solve and, you know, I'll solve it.

So I don't like, I can get hooked into just, I got to get through the Bible every year.

But it's better if you think about trying to get the Word of God through you every year.

One of the good things about trying to read through the Bible every year is that the big picture begins to take a bit more shape in your mind and in your hearts.

I think that's fair to say.

The more that you read through the entire content of the Word of God,

the more all of the little pieces of the puzzle begin to fit in.

I don't know that any of us really have all the pieces where they belong.

Some of the pieces are really hard to fit in the right places.

But one thing's for sure.

The more that you go through and go over God's Word,

the more you'll begin to just look at things, particularly in the Old Testament, I think,

that are sometimes a little bit more difficult to put in the right places.

Exodus, prophecies, those kind of things.

You begin to see connections developing between many of the books of the Bible.

And you begin to see the theme that is woven through the Bible begin to come together a bit more.

So I just encourage you to do that.

The reason I mention that tonight is because if you're reading chronologically through the Bible,

which I try to do every year, you're probably not far off Exodus 14.

I think you'll probably be around Exodus 22, 24, somewhere in there if you're reading through chronologically.

So if you have been doing that, then some of what we're looking at tonight may be still fresh in your minds.

I can tell by your faces that many of you haven't a clue what I'm talking about here.

But okay, it's a good practice to have.

If I can encourage you to do that.

I started doing that, I don't know how many years ago.

But I remember we had a guy named Peter Jackson come to Corubbers.

I don't know if you've ever met Peter Jackson.

He's a blind pianist.

I think he just recently passed away, Peter.

And while he was with us one year, he's blind, okay?

He's been blind since he was about two years old from an illness.

And I think in Braille, he was reading through the Bible.

I don't know how many times a year he was reading through the Bible, but it really just caught me.

If this guy can read through the Bible more than once in a year, I could probably do it myself.

Okay, I've harped on about that enough.

Just an encouragement for you.

Exodus 14, you'll probably be aware of the fact that when you think about the book of Exodus,

Exodus begins, Israel's in a good place, right?

Come out of the end of book of Genesis.

Jacob and the rest of the family have gone down to join Joseph in Egypt.

Okay, they're given favor by Pharaoh because Joseph had been placed into such an exalted position in Egypt.

And they're given this great land of Goshen and they're given the greatest of the land

and the flocks are prospering there and the people are prospering there.

And so Genesis ends and Exodus begins and Israel's in a good place.

But of course, a Pharaoh arises who doesn't know Joseph, that generation and the generation of Joseph's brothers die out.

And very, very quickly, Egypt, the leaders and the rulers in Egypt begin to get really nervous about the prosperity of the nation of Israel.

They've grown, they're strong, they're prosperous.

And then they begin to subject them to just a great oppression.

And it's not long before Israel are in a really bad place.

By the time you get to chapter 14 now, okay, they've done their time.

The Lord prophesied that they would be in Egypt for many years.

They were in Egypt for over 400 years.

But now by the time you get to chapter 14, Moses has come.

The mighty hand of God has been revealed against Egypt.

And Israel comes out, the Passover in chapter 12.

And really interesting, they're coming out of slavery now.

And just an amazing experience of incredible hardship and oppression for generations.

Okay, so you got to remember that the generation that came out of Egypt,

that generation had never experienced freedom.

Right?

Because nobody was over 400 years old.

So that generation had never experienced freedom.

All they had ever known was slavery and oppression.

That was their life.

They were born into that.

They grew up in that.

They married in that.

They had children in that.

They died in that.

Okay, so that's kind of something of the backdrop here.

The nation that is now being delivered out of Egypt,

they have never known what it feels like to be free.

We just take that so for granted, don't we?

It's great to hear people praying tonight for the world and for countries where people wish they had what we had.

They would give anything to live in a nation that we live in.

As much as we bellyache about it and moan and groan about it, they'd give anything to live where we do.

And as you know, we're in the midst of this mass migration now that we've never seen.

Certainly, I've never seen anything like it.

And people want to live in a better place.

Well, 430 years of bondage, 430 years in Egypt, most of those years in bondage.

And now Israel are being delivered.

And as they come out, the generation that is coming out have never experienced freedom.

And now they're out.

Now they're out.

I've read this so many times, but the more I read it, the more I just try to get my head around what it must have felt like.

What it must have felt like to never have known.

I mean, your parents didn't know freedom.

Your grandparents didn't know freedom.

Your great-grandparents didn't know freedom.

Just generations of your nation have never known freedom.

And now they are out.

430 years.

And they're out.

They're free.

I can almost imagine.

I can hear them saying, I am never going to complain about anything again.

Right?

Can you see them?

You've had a headache before.

Right?

You've had a bad headache.

And it's lasted for hours.

And you pray to God.

And you take your aspirin or whatever.

And then your headache goes away.

And you just think, oh, Lord, thank you.

I'm never going to complain about anything again.

Until tomorrow.

Right?

I mean, 430 years and they are out.

You can almost hear them being released from this incredible burden.

And you just know that nothing is ever going to bother you again.

Well, let's see if that's true.

Exodus 14.

Let's pick it up in verse 1.

Now the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the children of Israel that they turn and camp before Pi-Hahirath between Migdal and the sea opposite Baal-Ziphon.

You shall camp before it by the sea.

For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, they're bewildered by the land.

Mark that phrase because it is repeated again and again and again and again in the Old Testament.

The reason why God does so much of what he does in the Old Testament that, if we're honest, really does boggle our minds is simply that the world might see and have a clearer picture of who he is.

The greatest thing this universe could ever see is the greatness of God.

Is that not fair?

The theme of the Bible, I think the theme of everything, is the glory of God.

What does that mean?

It just means the expression of the greatness of who God is.

I think that is the theme of everything.

I think that is the purpose of everything.

Do you think there's a reason?

The reason why there's a universe is because God determined that he would express the greatness of who he is.

Fair?

Is that fair?

Is that not why everything is here?

Psalm 19, verse 1, the heavens declare the glory of the Lord.

Psalms 19:1

Well, what do you mean they declare the glory of the Lord?

Can you put your hand to your ear and you hear them saying something?

No.

Just by their very existence, they express the greatness of who God is.

That's why God made man in his image, didn't he?

Isaiah 43, verse 7, God made us for his glory.

Isaiah 43:7

God made us to express the greatness of who he is.

How did he make us?

Genesis 1, 26, how did he make us?

God made man in his image, like him.

We're not God, but God made us like him.

The reason God made us was that he wanted to express the greatness of who he is

in a being that was like him.

So God made us like him.

And we're different than anything else in creation.

We are like God.

In so many ways, God made us for his glory.

And so even here, God is going to act.

And what he's going to do is he acts.

All this deliverance, all that God is doing in this nation,

all that God does through Christ at the cross,

all that he does in the creation and the summation of the world and everything,

expresses the greatest thing in the world,

is that the greatness of who God is would be expressed,

that it would be seen,

and that people would see that.

That's the reason for the gospel,

is that people would come to understand,

not just how great it is to be a part of a Brunsfield Evangelical Church,

although I'm sure that's great,

but that they would come to know Christ

and recognize what it means

to understand and know the God who made everything

and the greatness of who he is.

God made everything for his glory.

But we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

And so all the pictures of the Old Testament,

we thought about this this morning,

all the shadowy insufficiencies are fulfilled in Christ.

And when Christ comes and he makes atonement for sin,

all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

that is a problem.

The wages of sin is death, so Jesus dies.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Jesus comes and makes atonement for sin,

that as we respond to Christ's offering

and sacrifice for us, we might be forgiven.

And then as Paul writes to the Corinthians,

don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,

transforming power of God in our lives

as we respond to the gospel?

Don't you know that the Spirit of God is in you

and that you are not your own?

You have been bought with a price.

Therefore, anybody know?

Glorify God in your bodies.

See the big picture?

Made for God's glory, fallen from glory,

restored to glory in Christ.

Okay, that's not really my message tonight.

It's a freebie, but I'll let you think about that.

Okay, so here it is again.

All that he does,

that is the purpose that lies behind,

I would suggest to you,

the purpose that lies behind everything.

So what he's going to do here with Egypt and with Pharaoh,

it just continues to fall along those lines

of God expressing the greatness of who he is.

That is what he does.

So then I will harden Pharaoh's heart

that he will pursue them

and I will gain honor or be glorified

that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.

And they did so.

Now it was told the king of Egypt,

so Israel went out and they camped by the sea.

They did so.

Now it was told the king of Egypt

that the people had fled

and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants

was turned against the people.

Remember he had sent them out finally,

go, go, just leave.

You've ruined, you've destroyed our nation.

Go, leave.

Go and make your sacrifices.

Take your animals, take your children,

take everybody and just get out.

Right?

Exodus 11, 12, get out.

And they did.

But now he's having second thoughts.

Right?

That's quite a big workforce to lose overnight.

He's having second thoughts.

The heart of Pharaoh and his servants

were turned against the people.

And they said,

why have we done this?

That we have let Israel go from serving us.

We've lost them all.

Right?

They were a huge nation by this time.

They were a huge nation.

600,000 adult men come out.

So many would speculate perhaps up to 2 million of them

at this point in time.

It's a huge workforce that we're doing,

by and large, most of the manual labor

for the nation of Egypt.

And they're gone.

What have we done?

What have we done?

We've let them go.

So verse 6,

He made ready his chariot

and took his people with him.

Also, he took 600 choice chariots

and all the chariots of Egypt

with captains over every one of them.

And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh,

king of Egypt,

and he pursued the children of Israel.

And the children of Israel went out with boldness.

So the Egyptians pursued them.

So, okay, at this point in time,

they're feeling pretty good.

They've gone out with boldness, right?

They're delivered.

They're out after 400.

They're feeling good.

You with me?

They're feeling good.

They're going out with boldness.

The Egyptians have sent them over.

They plundered the Egyptians,

silver and gold.

Remember, right?

They took all their stuff

and they're going out.

They're heading out.

The promised land is...

This is a happy days.

Happy days.

They're in a good place at this point.

They're going out.

They're delivered.

Wow, what must that have felt like?

Gone out with boldness, we're told.

So the Egyptians pursued them, verse 9,

and all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh.

That's a big company.

His horsemen and his army.

And overtook them,

camping by the sea beside Pihirith

before Baal-Ziphon.

Now, what's this?

They'd be thinking, right?

What is...

They get out of here.

Go.

Leave us.

We're finished with you.

What's happening now?

Who are these guys?

What?

Right?

We thought we were out.

We thought we were home free.

We...

All right.

So, doesn't quite look as good.

Verse 10,

When Pharaoh drew near,

the children of Israel lifted their eyes

and behold,

the Egyptians marched after them.

And so they were very afraid.

Going out with boldness,

now they're afraid.

And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

And they said to Moses,

because there were no graves in Egypt,

have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?

Didn't take too long

before they started complaining again, didn't it?

Never complain about anything again.

Why have you so dealt with us

to bring us up out of Egypt?

Now, I didn't hear anyone complaining

when they were in Egypt.

Did you?

Right?

I mean, I'm sure just, you know,

they were crying out to the Lord.

The Lord heard their cries,

their oppression.

They were miserable

and they were asking God to deliver them.

God delivers them.

And now they're saying,

why do you take us out of here?

This is crazy.

This is crazy.

Saying, let us alone

that we may serve the Egyptians.

Hang on a minute.

Four to thirty years,

you're crying out to get us out of here.

So I got them out of here.

Let us serve the Egyptians.

This is crazy.

It's crazy.

For it would have been better

for us to serve the Egyptians

than that we should die in the wilderness.

So you have some sense of their despair.

This is great despair.

They obviously feel as though

there is no hope.

Why else,

after crying out for four hundred and thirty years

and then being delivered,

would they say,

hey, we'd rather not have been delivered?

Their despair must be huge.

Isn't it?

Can you imagine being delivered

from some illness or something?

I don't know.

Some terrifying experience of your life

and you're crying out to God

to be delivered.

God delivers you

and in just a couple of days

you're saying,

I'd rather have that.

Something massively bad

must be coming to your life

to say,

I'd rather go back to that.

That's kind of where they're at.

Verse 13.

Well, let's stop in verse 12.

Let's stop in verse 12.

We'll pick up in verse 13

in a minute.

Okay?

God is leading them out of Egypt.

Right?

God is leading them out of Egypt.

Nobody's going to argue with that.

Okay?

Who's in control here?

God is in control.

Who's leading them out?

God is leading them out.

Moses is there,

but Moses is God's spokesman

and through Moses,

God is leading them out of Egypt.

chapters 13, 14, and 15 of Exodus

form for me just an incredible story

about how sometimes God leads us.

And there are three really bizarre

different ways here.

One in chapter 13,

one in chapter 14,

one in chapter 15.

We're just going to look at chapter 14.

But there are three very unlikely,

seemingly unlikely ways

that God leads these people.

God is leading.

They're not making a mistake.

God's at the head of the whole deal here.

And yet it's a bizarre,

three bizarre different ways

that God leads.

The first way he seems to lead them

is by a different route

than they had planned to go.

Remember, they had planned to go

straight to the promised land

and he leads them instead

away from where they would have experienced

the conflict with the Philistines.

And now here in chapter 14,

he leads them seemingly to a dead end.

They've got nowhere to go.

In fact, it seems to be such a dead end

that they would prefer to go back to Egypt.

And then once you get into chapter 15,

he leads them to a very dry place.

So here God is leading them,

but in a strange way he's leading them.

So since when does God lead

down a dead end street?

You don't perceive that God does that.

Not the God of the Bible,

not the God who loves us,

not the God who makes provision for us.

Since when does God lead

down a dead end street?

What's going on here?

I wonder if any of you have ever hit

one of these in your life.

I wonder if any of you have ever hit,

as a follower of Christ,

hit a time in your life

when you just don't get it.

You're praying to God,

you're seeking to honor God with your life,

doing everything you can to,

as far as you know,

to obey God.

And yet the circumstances,

as far as you're concerned,

don't seem to be following the script

that you've written.

Right?

Wait a minute, Lord,

that's not the script that I've written.

And you just wonder,

Lord, what on earth are you doing?

You're leading me down a dead end street.

I think that's how Israel

are feeling just now.

You're trusting,

you're seeking,

you're asking,

but all you seem to get

is a dead end.

The Israelites are right here.

The Egyptians are on one side,

the sea is on the other side,

their backs are up against the wall.

It's the picture I've got.

Their backs are up against the wall.

And verse 10 says

they are terrified.

The AV says

they're sore afraid.

Right?

That's big.

They're sore.

I like to,

sometimes you go back

to the old English,

that's good.

They're sore afraid.

It hurts.

They're so afraid.

They're sore afraid.

That's fear.

And so they cry out

in verse 11,

was it because there were no graves

in Egypt that you brought us

here to die?

Or if you like,

did you have to take us

all the way out here

to show us a dead end?

We had a dead end

enough in Egypt.

Did you have to bring us

all the way out here

to show us a dead end?

Didn't take long

for these guys to give up.

Well, here's the question

I'll pose for us tonight

with this in view.

What happens when

God is leading us,

but where he leads us

seems to be to a dead end?

What happens?

What do we do then?

What do we do

when our life hits a place

where we just don't get it?

We know God is for us.

We know God is for us.

That's pretty clear.

His word is very clear

on that in Christ.

We belong to him.

We're beloved to him in Christ.

We're accepted in the beloved.

We belong to his family.

What happens?

What do you do

when it seems like

you've reached

some kind of a dead end

in your life?

It's not what you would ever

have expected God

to do in your life.

It's not a great place to be.

What happens then?

Let me just give you

a few suggestions

and we'll finish up tonight.

Number one,

I think if you reach

a place like this

in your life,

if you have an experience

like this,

if you're in an experience

like this just now,

I think you need to remember

that what you see

is not all that you get.

Is that not fair?

What you see

is not all that you get.

We so often

find ourselves

being driven

more by what we can see

than by what we can't see.

Fair enough?

Right?

Our emotions,

our experiences.

What you see

is not all you get.

Remember Paul

in 1 Corinthians 13 verse 12.

1 Corinthians 13:12

We see now

in a mirror

what?

Dimly.

Dimly.

Dimly.

I don't have

all the answers.

I don't have

all the answers.

In fact,

now

I'm

hitting 55.

My eyesight's getting so bad

I can't even read

all the questions.

But I don't have

all the answers.

But I love

the perspective

that David gives

in Psalm 14.

He says that

God looks down.

We just look out.

We just look out

and all we can see

is what

has just

been behind us

and where we are now.

Don't know what

the next day

is going to bring.

All we can see

is just on this

very limited plane.

But God

looks down

we're told

from heaven

on the sons

of men.

I love that perspective.

We have to remember

that perspective.

What's going on

when it looks like

a dead end?

Well,

for one thing

you're certainly

not seeing

all that there is.

I've shared

I'm sure before

I won't go into

belabor this.

We've been preaching

through Job

I said this morning

at Corubbers

so I've spoken

a few times

already about

just a very,

very bad patch

that I had

a number of years ago.

A burnout,

breakdown,

whatever,

anxiety and depression

and it

bumbled on

for me

for years.

For years.

It was just

a horrible

dark place

for me.

Probably when I

started that place

I didn't have

many books

on my shelf

about depression

or mental illness

or anxiety

or anything.

If any of you

want to borrow

a book now

I probably

have them all.

I've just got

shelves full

of these things.

One of the best

books I ever read

was by a guy

named David Jeremiah

and he

was a pastor

in the States

and he'd

gone through

lymphoma

and he just

had written

this book

with a number

of other people

sharing difficult

experiences

from a Christian

point of view

and he ties

each one

of the chapters

in with a

different psalm

and it's just

a great book.

But the title

of the book

is A Bend

in the Road

and let me

just read you

just a wee poem

that's right

at the very

beginning of the book

A Bend

in the Road

and here's

what he says.

He says

sometimes we

come to life's

crossroads

and we view

what we think

is the end.

But God

has a much

wider vision

and he knows

that it's only

a bend.

The road

will go on

and get smoother

and after we've

stopped for a rest

the path

that lies

hidden

beyond us

is often

the path

that is best.

So rest

and relax

and grow

stronger.

Let go

and let God

share your load

and have faith

in a brighter

tomorrow.

You've just

come

to a bend

in the road.

So not good.

We view

what we think

and say

Lord

what have you

done?

I'd rather

be in Egypt.

I'd rather

be in Egypt.

Man that must

be pretty bad

to wish

that you were

back there.

I'd rather

be in Egypt.

What are

you doing

now?

Don't forget

that all

that you

see is not

all that

there is.

The Israelites

it looks

like the

end.

But remember

that God

initiated this

in the first

place.

It wasn't

Pharaoh that

initiated this

it was God

that brought

them here.

God told

them where

to go.

God sent

them to

the sea.

God sent

them to

the place

where their

backs are now

against the

wall.

God sent

them there.

there.

I'd reckon

that in the

number of

people that

are here

tonight

somebody is

probably feeling

something like

this or you

know somebody

who is.

And yet God's

the one who's

sent them

here.

The Lord

said to

Moses

verse 1

tell the

Israelites to

turn back

and to

encamp

between

Migdal

and the

sea.

God

sent

them

there.

And then

Pharaoh's

going to

think the

Israelites are

wandering

around in

the land

in confusion

hemmed in

by the

desert.

So it's

kind of

like the

old wandering

around in

confusion

trick.

Isn't it?

You know

God's

going to

see them

wandering

around and

Pharaoh's

going to

go and

get them.

Nothing

has

God has

lost nothing

of his

control of

the situation.

It only

looks like

they're

wandering

around in

the desert.

It only

looks like

a dead

end.

Of course

it does

see.

But that's

not all

there is.

They see

Pharaoh,

they see

600 of

his best

chariots,

Egyptian

officers,

ranks of

soldiers,

but unfortunately

the one

person they

don't seem

to see in

this place

is God.

The one

person they

don't seem

to see is

God.

Reminds

me,

remember

Gehazi?

Remember

that story

in 2

Kings 6?

It's a

great story,

I'm sure

you know

it.

And the

king of

the Arameans

is desperate

to get his

hands on

Elisha.

Because as

the king

of the

Arameans

makes all

his battle

plans,

God has

given

Elisha

insight into

what's going

on in

their board

room.

He's

revealing to

Elisha

the plans

that they're

making,

that the

Arameans

are making

in secret.

And so the

king of the

Arameans is

just desperate

to get his

hands on

Elisha.

So listen,

2 Kings 6,

2 Kings 6:13

verse 13,

the king

says,

go,

find where

he is,

the king

ordered,

so I

can send

men and

capture him.

The report

came back,

he's in

Dothan.

So they

sent horses

and chariots

and a

strong force

there.

Sounds like

the Egyptians

coming out

to get the

Israelites.

And they

went by

night and

they surrounded

the city.

And the

servant of

the man of

God,

Gehazi,

the servant

of the man

of God

got up and

he went

out early

in the

morning.

And an

army of

horses and

chariots

had surrounded

the city.

Oh my

Lord,

he says,

what are we

going to

do?

Don't be

afraid,

the prophet

answered,

because those

who were

with us

are more

than those

who are

with them.

And you

can see,

you can

almost see

Gehazi

at that

point.

Gehazi

comes out

of the

house,

all he

sees are

the hillsides

covered with

Aramean

soldiers.

And Elisha

says,

oh don't be

afraid,

those who

are with

us are

more than

those who

are with

them.

And you

can just

see Gehazi,

the eyes

are popping

out of his

head with

fear.

And he's

probably

thinking,

Elisha,

what have

you been

drinking?

What do

you mean?

What do

you mean?

So Elisha

prayed,

Lord,

open his

eyes that

he may

see.

And the

Lord opened

the servant's

eyes and

he looked

and saw

the hills

full of

the horses

and chariots

of fire

all around

Elisha.

What you

see is not

all that

there is.

That is

always the

case,

folks.

That is

always the

case.

When God

leads us

to a place

that we're

uncomfortable

in,

we don't

like it,

we're

despairing,

we wonder

where he

is,

we're

crying out.

One of

the books

I got on

my shelf

is When

Heaven is

Silent

by Ron

Dunn.

And you're

crying out

and you're

getting no

answer and

you just,

you know,

Lord,

where are

you?

Read the

Psalms.

They're

filled with

this kind

of an

emotion.

They're

filled with

it.

Lord,

where are

you?

All that

you see

is not

all that

there is.

You just

need to give

God some

space to

work.

Second

thing I'd

suggest to

you hear

when you

hit a

dead

end is

that dead

ends tend

to be some

of the

greatest

opportunities

for us

to express

the greatness

of who

God is

in our

lives.

I think

that's fair.

I think

that's fair.

I think

difficult

circumstances

would look

like dead

ends for

us tend

to be

those times

of our

life when

we have

the greatest

opportunity

for the

greatness of

who God

is to be

seen in

our lives.

Would you

agree?

It's a

great opportunity

at these

points.

For God

to be

glorified in

our bodies.

Look back

at verse

2 again.

Tell the

Israelites

to turn

back,

set up

camp by

the sea.

Pharaoh's

going to

think they're

trapped and

then I'm

going to

harden his

heart.

He's going

to chase

after them

for all

that he's

worth.

But I

am going

to gain

glory for

myself.

Honor,

glory for

myself.

God says

through

Israel's

sticky

situation.

I'm going

to gain

glory for

myself.

God is

going to be

glorified.

And is that

not what we

pray?

I think

we've

sung

some

songs

like that

tonight.

Lord,

I could

never

thank you

enough for

the sacrifice

that you've

made on

my behalf.

I never

deserved it.

You sent

your son to

die for

my sin.

I could

never

express to

you in

a million

lifetimes

the gratitude

that I

feel.

My life

is what?

Yours.

Do with

it as you

will.

Have any

of you ever

prayed that

prayer?

Any of you

ever prayed

that prayer?

Anybody,

anything like

that?

That's a

dangerous

prayer to

pray,

isn't it?

My life

is your

do with

it as

you will.

Glorify

yourself,

Lord,

in my

life.

Glorify

yourself in

my life.

Paul faced

this.

Same

experience.

Israel

is stuck

and God's

getting the

glory.

All they

saw was

the stuck

bit.

They

saw the

stuck.

They seem

to have

forgotten

all about

the cloud

and the

fire.

Never

seen the

dawn on

them.

God

might be

doing

something

great

for

himself.

Never

seemed

to

dawn

on

them.

God

had

led

them

out.

God

knew

what

he

was

doing

and

God

was

going

to

glorify

himself

in

what

seemed

to

them

was

a

dead

end.

Be

patient.

Be

patient.

The

story's

not

over

yet.

Could

have

said to

Israel,

you're

not in

the

water

yet.

They

had

themselves

in

the

depths

of

the

Red

Sea,

didn't

they?

They

already

had

themselves

in

the

depths

of

the

Red

Sea.

They're

not

in

the

sea

yet.

God's

not

finished

yet.

Be

patient.

I think

this

happens

to us

loads.

We

get

into

these

difficult

circumstances

in

our

lives

and

we

write

the

end

of

the

story

and

that's

not

the

same

script

that

God

has.

Give

him

an

opportunity

to

show

you

what

he's

written.

Paul

says

in

Romans

Romans 15:4

15

verse

4

whatever

was

written

in

the

earlier

times

was

written

for

our

instruction

that

through

perseverance

and

encouragement

of the

scriptures

we might

have

hope.

Do you

hear that?

By

looking at

their

situation

we need

to learn

something

from it

and we

might

have

hope.

These

guys

got

hemmed

in

at

the

Red

Sea

so

that

my

dead

end

experience

might

not

sink

me.

They

got

hemmed

in

so

that

I

could

be

reminded

that

he's

going

to do

exactly

the

same

thing

when

I

hit

a

dead

end.

It's

the way

Paul

puts it

in

Philippians

Philippians 1:19

1

verse

19

talking

about

being

in

prison

for

Christ.

He

says

I

know

that

my

dead

end

prison

experience

is

going

to

turn

out

for

my

deliverance

through

your

prayers

and

the

provision

of

the

spirit

of

Jesus

Christ.

Completely

different

perspective

on

his

circumstances.

Completely

different

perspective.

According

to my

earnest

expectation

and hope

that I

shall not

be put

to shame

in anything

but that

with all

boldness

listen to

this

that with

all

boldness

Christ

shall

even

now

as

always

be

exalted

in

my

body.

I'm

in

prison.

I don't

like

being

in

prison.

But

it's

an

opportunity

for

God

to

be

exalted

in

my

body

whether

by

life

or

by

death.

For

to

me

to

live

is

Christ

and

to

die

gain.

You

know

what's

going

on

when

you

hit

a

dead

end?

Great

opportunity

to

express

the

greatness

of

who

God

is

in

your

life

because

that's

what

glorifying

God

is

all

about.

For

God

to

express

how

great

he

is

and

you've

read

the

books

you've

heard

the

stories

your

life

is

a

story

isn't

it?

Your

life

is

a

story

that's

being

written.

Your

life

is

a

story

listening

to

what

I'm

saying

some

of

you

are

nodding

but

most

of

you

are

listening

then

the

story

is

not

over.

The

story

is

not

over.

Your

life

my

life

is

a

story

that

God

is

writing.

It's

not

over.

Don't

write

the

end

of

the

script

for

God

please.

He's

writing

his

own

story

with

your

life

that

will

satisfy

you

and

glorify

him.

Let

him

finish

the

end.

The

final point

is simply

that God

doesn't do

dead

ends.

God

doesn't do

dead

ends.

Right?

He

causes

all

things

to work

together

for

good.

He

doesn't

do

dead

ends.

There's

nothing

like that

in

scripture.

Nothing

like that

in

scripture.

Causes

all

things

to

work

together

the

good

of

those

who

love

God

and

are

called

according

to

their

own

purpose.

Right?

No.

His

purpose.

His

purpose.

His

purpose.

For

your

life.

His

purpose.

There

was a

time,

I'm

sure,

for

all

of

you,

where

you

gave,

we

often

put

salvation

in

these

terms.

We

say

that

there

was

a

point

in

my

life

where

I

gave

my

life

to

Christ.

Or

I

gave

my

heart

to

the

Lord.

It's

not

quite

biblical

terminology,

but

we

know

what

we

mean.

It was