When you read through Exodus you cannot miss the point that God is in control.  If you believe like I do that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and written by him using human authors and actual  historcal events you see that God is constantly orchestrating history.  The Israelites needed to get out of Egypt.  Pharoh had used them as slaves for too long and it was time to leave.  As you read through the story in Exodus it is quite suspenseful to see how they get out.  And when you get to Exodus 14 God makes it clear that the string of events is not random nor did they happen by fate.  The events happened according to God’s plan and for His glory.

ESV Exodus 14:17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.

ESV Exodus 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” And they did so.

ESV Exodus 14:14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

God is jealous for His own glory.  He is the conductor of this meticulously orchestrated concert in history.  While we as humans may not fully understand why God does all that He does we still have to believe and trust in His holiness and righteousness to carry out His will.  We also have to understand that God sees everything all at once while we only get a glimpse of what is really going on.

Our current economic and historical situation is looking quite bleak.  Banks are collapsing, retail stores are going bankrupt and people are losing their jobs everyday.  While we understand that our situation is due mainly to man’s greed and pursuit of power we still have to believe that God is in control of the situation.  Our perspective is limited to what we can see and understand but God’s perspective is unlimited.  God led the Israelites into an impossible situation.  While they were fleeing the Egyptians God led them to the Red Sea.  God could have led them into the wilderness where there was at least some space to run.  But instead God led the Israelites to a spot where they could not flee.  The Egyptian army was breathing down their necks while the Red Sea stopped them in their tracks.  They faced an impossible situation. There was nothing that they could do for themselves. But that is exactly where God wanted them to be because He wanted to display His power and He wanted to get the glory.  You know the rest of the story, God parts the Red Sea, the Israelites cross on dry ground, the Egyptians pursue but once they try to cross the Red Sea God closes the waters and they all drowned.  The Israelites are saved and the Egyptian army is destroyed.  No human could have planned it out this way, but God did and He gets all the glory.

No human can figure out what the future will hold for our economy, our country, our families or for us individually.  But those who have trusted in Christ as their Redeemer can continue to trust in Him to redeem us from any situation or circumstance we face.  Our hope is in Christ.  When we begin to put forth our own notions of how things should be or how they should turn out we are setting ourselves above God and putting hope within ourselves.  All for our own glory and this is a big mistake.

So as we watch and live in this chaotic world, let’s not forget that God is in control, that He is sovereign, that His providence will prevail.  And let’s not forget to give Him all the glory for all that He does.