But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.

—Exodus 14:13-16

I have a confession to make. The Apostle Paul gets on my nerves. Specifically, he gets on my nerves because he is the absolute king of run-on sentences. A single sentence can run for a whole paragraph, integrating half a dozen ideas into it, and then when you get to the next paragraph, it starts with therefore which basically makes that paragraph a continuation of the sentence found in the first. Bottom line, it makes understanding what he writes a bit confusing at times.

Case in point: 2 Corinthians chapter 5—I dare you to go count all the therefores in that chapter. And then right in the middle of the second paragraph is a verse we hear all the time— “for we walk by faith, not by sight” (vs 7). Whenever I’ve heard this verse in the past, it’s been a reference to trusting in God, but without the context around it, I feel like it loses some of its flavor and depth. 

The section leading up to this verse is devoted to contrasting our temporary home (our bodies) with the longing we feel for our eternal home in Heaven. And because this is Paul and trouble (sometimes literally) followed him around, there is also an element of enduring hardship while we wait for our final homecoming. 

In essence, as far as I can tell, when Paul wrote the famous verse 7, he wasn’t just saying we’re going to pray repetitive stock prayers asking God to provide and try not to worry about life. He was saying that even in the face of trials and persecution we are to walk by faith by keeping our focus on God and all He has promised us through His Son.

I can’t tell y’all how long it took me to get to the point where I felt like I had some understanding of what Paul was saying there, and part of the reason, I think, is because I’m a visual person—I need to see the concept before I fully understand it.

So when I decided I wanted to find an example in Scripture of what walking by faith in the face of great difficulty looked like, the first book I thought of was Exodus and boy, I was not disappointed.

When Moses was about to part the Red Sea, things were looking pretty bleak. One of the world’s most powerful armies was closing in. At this point, the Hebrews had only been free for a short time, so they were only just learning how to be free people, and suddenly they were staring down the barrel of a loaded gun with their backs against a wall. 

No wonder they accused Moses of bringing them out of Egypt just to die by the sea and mourned their previous life of slavery. Their sight told them things were hopeless, but they had been given a wonderful promise. The promise of a land they were to possess where they would have an intimate relationship with a God who delights to give His people freedom.

In today’s passage, we see a three-step process by which Moses led the people of Israel to walk by faith and keep their focus on the promise of God’s deliverance.

The very first thing Moses says to the people is “Do not fear!” It’s only three words in English and less in the original text, but the implications are huge. In order to let go of their fear, the Hebrews first had to take hold of faith in the God who had already proven Himself far superior to all the gods of Egypt. 

I love how simple it is, even though it can be difficult to do—our first step is to intentionally let go of fear and grab onto faith. 

Then Moses tells the people to “Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD” and that “The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.” He doesn’t tell them to line up and grab what weapons they can improvise to protect themselves. He says to hush and be still—to rest. 

Two quick thoughts about rest: (1) Rest requires faith that those around us will not hurt us and will protect us if necessary; and (2) rest restores strength. There has to be faith in order to receive the benefit of rest, which is strength for the next step.

The last step doesn’t come from Moses but from God. He says to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.” And there you have it! The last step to walking by faith…is walking. Walking forward, making progress, continuing on the journey.

Take hold of faith. Rest in God’s promises. Keep moving. 

Even in this, I see God’s goodness, His providence for our weakness, and it is humbling. He has never expected us to get through our trials without His strength and power. Instead, He offers it freely if we will hold onto faith and rest in Him.

My prayer is that this week, and in the future, we will choose to walk by faith when challenges arise, keeping our focus on God and His promises, and that we will always remember how good our God is to remember and provide for our lack of strength.