From the Mountaintop to the Valley

“Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left” (Exodus 14:21-22).

This is one of the greatest manifestations of God in all of world history. No event recorded by humankind has ever matched this one as a picture of God’s glory. Try to imagine it: towering walls of water that grew higher by the minute, dividing a sea in two.

The Israelites crossed over on dry land to the other side. Once they were safely there, they turned back to see their Egyptian oppressors crushed by the towering waves crashing down on them. God had miraculously delivered his people to victory, and now they danced with joy and shouted with praise.

“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! … The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him’” (15:1-2).

So what followed for Israel? Unbelievably, three days after their incredible victory, they were utterly discouraged. They thirsted for water in the wilderness and God had led them to the pool at Marah. But the water was bitter! “Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter” (15:23). And as the people spat the water out of their mouths, their faith was shattered. In just three days’ time, they had gone from the greatest mountaintop victory of all time to the lowest valley of despair.

What was going on? At the Red Sea and at the pool of Marah, God was proving his people: “There He tested them” (15:25). Simply put, God was with his people in their spiritual high, yet he was with them just as much in their low time. They just had to keep following the Lord until they finally made it to the Promised Land.

God is telling you in your dry spells, “I want you to learn to move on in faith because I am leading you somewhere!”