We observed yesterday that God did his work, specifically the plagues against Egypt, by co-laboring with Moses and Aaron. The theme continues after the Passover and the Exodus when the Israelites were seemingly trapped between Egypt and the Red Sea, and Pharaoh decided to come after them. The people were afraid, and Moses gives this stirring exhortation:

And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Exodus 14.13, 14, ESV)

What a speech: stirring, inspiring…and wrong. Look at God’s response:

The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. (Exodus 14.15, 16, ESV)

There is a time for prayer, and there is a time for action. ASK / ACT. In this case, it’s ACT! How did the Israelites escape through the Red Sea?

• Moses lifted his staff. If Moses doesn’t lift his staff, the waters don’t part.
• God parted the waters. If God doesn’t part the waters, it doesn’t matter that Moses lifted his staff.
• The people walked through. If the people don’t walk through, it doesn’t matter that the waters were parted.

ASK / ACT – God’s power / Our action. I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow.

Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. (Mark 2.3 – 12, NIV)