Drowning Your Sorrows

“Pharaoh’s chariots and his army God has cast into the sea.” Exodus 15:4 NKJV

“Your obstacle can be the dividing line between your past and future.”

My thoughts today are about “drowning your sorrows.”

An exhausting dream fairly common to people is one of being chased and no matter how hard you try, you can’t escape. I think such a recurring dream is an expression of a person’s subconscious acting out what life feels like for them. There are times you feel like something is after you. It seems that you run hard, but life keeps gaining on you.

Old bills add up with new ones piled on top; aches and pains worry you about tomorrow; old problems are lingering problems today; you pull people toward you, but they push you away; the past you try to forget is a sorrow you cannot escape. Life is not very pleasant lived on the run, always looking over your shoulder for calamity.

Israel had just been released from horrendous bondage and servitude under Egypt’s rule. Read Exodus 12:37-42 NKJV. Then they faced an impassable obstacle, the Red Sea. Worse yet, Pharaoh’s fiercest fighters were in hot pursuit. While they briefly rejoiced in their freedom, an old enemy haunted their trail. Read Exodus 14:3-14 NKJV. Ahead was an uncrossable obstacle; behind and closing fast, was their worst nightmare! Little did they imagine God would make their obstacle become the dividing line between their past and future. Do you need a clear separation from your past?

You know the story; God opens the Red Sea for Israel to cross on dry land, but their enemy still pursued until the waters collapsed and, “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army God . . cast into the sea . . the depths have covered them; they sank to the bottom like a stone.” Exodus 15:4-5 NKJV. Now, the very obstacle that previously blocked their way forward was the instrument God used to separate them from everything they were running from. See Exodus 14:27-28 NIV. They were drowning in their fear of the past and their desperation of the moment until God used the Red Sea to drown their pursuers.

The application is this: God can take the things that repeatedly bring you sorrow and regret to show you His almightiness. Read 1 Peter 1:3-9 NKJV. The thing that relentlessly pursues you, threatening to drag you back into your past, can be what God uses to drown your sorrows triumphantly. “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring to you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:13-14 NIV. What are you running from? Stop running; stand still and see what God will do to give you peace and safety permanently, not temporarily!

My prayer for you today is that you will see God’s victory in the midst of every trial.