“So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians … Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and spoke, saying, ‘I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously!’” (Exodus 14:30; 15:1).

God wants you to come out of your storm a worshipper! He had made a way for you in your dark night and he has a plan to bring you out as a shining example to the world of his faithfulness to his people.

Most Christians are familiar with what happened to Israel at the Red Sea and how God miraculously delivered his chosen people. Yet, you may wonder what this incident has to do with making you a worshipper.

Here’s the scene: Israel encamped by the sea and the people were rejoicing in their newfound freedom. After four hundred years of bondage, God had led them out of the iron furnace of Egypt. As they reveled at their first taste of freedom, they were filled with the hope that freedom brings, singing and crying, “We’re free at last!” They were so excited by the promises God had given them.

This scene poignantly represents the Christian who has been delivered from sin — he rejoices in his newfound freedom from past bondages and he has a holy melody in his heart because he’s living out God’s promises. But then an attack comes! In the case of the Israelites, Pharaoh’s army attacked suddenly and unexpectedly, sending shockwaves throughout the camp. At the hour of Israel’s greatest peace, the enemy sought to devour them; at the very height of their freedom, during their hour of greatest hope, Satan tried to take them out.

“The children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold … they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord” (Exodus 14:10). In spite of their fear, the Lord supernaturally protected Israel and brought them through in victory (see Exodus 14:31).

When Satan comes at you and tries to defeat you, just as Moses told the Israelites, the Lord would say to you, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today … The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (14:13-14). And like Israel, you can come forth as a worshipper and sing aloud in triumph!

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light … He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light” (John 1:6-8).

We are told that Jesus is the light of the world, “that all through him might believe” (1:7). Yet, we read, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it … He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (1:5, 11).

Unbelief has always grieved the heart of Jesus. When he came to earth in the flesh, he brought great light into the world that was meant to open the eyes of men. Yet, in spite of this amazing show of light, Scripture speaks of examples of unbelief.

One such example is seen at Bethany when Jesus was having supper in the home of his friends Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus, whom Christ had raised from the dead. At the time, crowds were passing through town on their way to the Passover feast at Jerusalem and they were intent on catching a glimpse of the man being called Messiah and the man he had resurrected (see John 12:1-9).

In the same chapter, we find these people waving palm branches and singing hosannas to Jesus as he enters Jerusalem on a donkey. They were seeing the fulfillment of a prophecy they had heard all their lives (see Zechariah 9:9). Finally, a voice came thundering from heaven as the Father glorified his own name (see John 12:30).

Each of these things happened before a huge throng of religious people, but still the people asked a question that absolutely stunned Jesus: “Who is this Son of Man?” (12:34). Their blindness was astounding and the Lord warned: “Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you” (12:35).

Jesus’ words here apply to Christians who refuse to mix the Word they hear with faith. They neglect to grasp, embrace and walk in the light they’ve been given and one day they will realize, “God doesn’t speak to me anymore.”

Beloved, accept God’s miracle-working power in your life; it will empower you to walk in freedom and assurance. When hard times come to you, you can say with confidence, “I’ve seen your light, Lord. Work your miracles in me again!”

In generations past, God touched and anointed particular men and women in a powerful way. These followers of God became enraptured with the Lord and his cause and rose up in faith. They awakened and changed the destinies of entire nations — and one such man was Daniel.

“Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession” (Daniel 9:3-4).

The prophet Daniel discerned the times because he knew God’s heart. “I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet” (9:2). Daniel came to this path of knowledge and discernment through the study of God’s Word. He allowed the Scriptures to lay hold of him fully, and he quoted them often and at length because he had hidden them away in his heart.

In Daniel 10, this godly prophet was given a vision of Christ. “I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz … his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire … and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude” (10:5-6).

There were other men with Daniel when he saw the vision. These men had to be believers because in his captivity, Daniel had set a standard for himself not to associate with the wicked. Yet these believers who were with him now weren’t like Daniel, so when the vision came, they fled. “I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision; but a great terror fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves” (10:7). Why did they flee in fear? Because they possessed hidden sin in their hearts.

Does God raise up such men and women today? We know God “is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). We serve the same God as past generations; in fact, we possess something those godly of old didn’t have — the gift of his Holy Spirit.

Beloved, I encourage you to be filled with the Spirit, set your face toward the Lord and step out and be set apart.

Trapped between two mountains and facing the Red Sea, the children of Israel were in a hopeless predicament as an angry Pharaoh and his iron chariots closed in on them from behind.

This is a very familiar story, one you have heard your entire church life. God had led Israel into a horrible crisis where they were being chased by a fierce enemy. Incredible as it seems, the Lord had purposely led His people into this precarious spot. I believe it is a story with great importance for the Church today, indeed at this moment in history.

Israel was trapped, seemingly helpless. And it caused a panic throughout the camp of Israel. Wives and children wept, huddling around their fathers and grandparents. A group of irate elders descended on their leader, Moses, ranting accusingly, “Were there not enough graves in Egypt so you’ve brought us out here to die? We told you in Egypt to leave us alone. Better for us to have been slaves to Pharaoh than to die in this miserable wilderness!”

I wonder if Moses had a moment of misgiving in that hour. I picture him falling on his knees, crying, “Lord, what’s going on? How is this possibly Your will for us?” Amazingly, in that dark moment God wrought a miracle of deliverance for Israel. Suddenly the winds were stirred up so powerfully they parted the sea in two. With a miraculous escape route before them, the people walked over the sea on dry ground. Then, when Pharaoh and his army tried to follow, the waves toppled down, drowning them in the raging waters.

“So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt: so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses” (Exodus 14:30–31).

The people of God were at the Red Sea mired in despair. At that moment how the Lord must have longed for someone like Gideon to rise up in that frightened camp and remind everyone of God’s faithfulness in the past. A few generations later Gideon had only a small army of three hundred men against an army, yet he shouted in faith before the battle (see Judges 6 and 7). You see, as far as the Lord is concerned, the time to stand is in the darkest moment. It is when everything seems hopeless, when there appears to be no way out, when God alone can save and deliver. Israel’s predicament at the Red Sea was intended by God as a learning experience for them, a moment to build their faith. Because faith isn’t really being tested when everything is going smoothly.

If only Israel had remembered the miracles God had done for them in Egypt. If only they had trusted His word that He would carry them in His arms as a father carries his child. If only a few had begun a worship song — the same song they later sang on the other side. If only the people had trusted the Lord, shouting, “He is my strength! My God will triumph. Who is like unto Thee, O Lord?” Tell me, what would have happened?

They would have established a strong, abiding faith in God — a faith tested and proven through the fire of their predicament. Their faith would have emerged so unshakable that it would have carried them through every hardship of the wilderness journey just ahead. They would have had a foundation of faith upon which to build. And over time they would have learned to confidently praise God in all circumstances, with a faith so strong hell would have shuddered.

The great need of this present hour is for Christians who have learned to sing the song of deliverance when they are being tested.