When you find yourself facing a dilemma, you feel like you’re in a dead-end situation—that is, you’re between a rock and a hard place. The Israelites wound up in a dilemma when they found themselves between the Red Sea and an Egyptian army. In this lesson on one of the most noted stories in Israel’s history, experience the kind of divine encounter with God that happens in the midst of a dilemma.
and jesus says this is the amen talking
this is the one who’s not going to tell
you what you want to hear i’ma tell you
like it really
is god wants you to fear him more than
you fear what’s wrong
he wants your fear of him to be greater
than your fear
of your problem truth is god’s view on
any subject matter
if there is no truth there can be no
legitimate unity
i’m here to tell you jesus saw satan had
you cage
but on the cross he has now opened the
cage door
so that he who the son sets free is free
indeed
today i want to look at an encounter
with god’s
power and this encounter with god’s
power comes in the context
of a dilemma so
a dilemma is when you’re in a no-win
situation anybody here ever been in that
dilemma
it’s no win i mean any direction that
you look in
is a lose-lose you’re in a dilemma
the most noted story in
israel’s history the crossing of the red
sea
which was its biggest celebrated miracle
happened when they were simultaneously
in a dilemma but what i want you to
catch today
is that they had their divine encounter
with god’s problem
in the context of a dilemma
so i want to prepare you today for an
encounter with god
but i also want to prepare you for a
dilemma
that provides the context for that
encounter
now the background to this
is very clear
moses has come through the 12 plagues
the 10 plagues and he’s
now leading the children of israel out
of
egypt pharaoh has responded now finally
to moses’s call to let my people go
and so the people now are on their way
out from slavery to freedom
they’re excited they’re looking forward
they’ve been told that there’s this
promised land this purpose of god that
god is going to take them to
and things are looking rosy
as they leave
on their way out it says in verse 17 of
chapter 13
that god did not leave them by way of
the land of the philistines
even though it was near
i want you to catch verse 18. hence god
led them so watch this
their dilemma is going to come about
when god is leading them
their dilemma is going to happen when
they’re in
the will of god their dilemma is going
to occur
when they’re being obedient because it
says
god was leading them
not only was god leading them into what
would be a dilemma
it says god led them the long way around
he did not lead them in the short
distance
not only that
but god was going before them verse 21
of chapter 13 says in a pillar of cloud
by day and
a pillar of fire by night he’s
walking with them in every step of the
way
and when they are doing this zigzag
through the wilderness
it says in chapter 14 pharaoh will say
to the sons of israel verse 3
they are wandering aimlessly in the land
and the wilderness has shut them in
and the wilderness will shut them in
so when he says and the wilderness shall
shut them in
they’re going to be in a no-win
situation that they can’t get out of
without coming back toward us
and it says and god was leading them
he was leading them into a cul-de-sac
or what you and i would call a trap
see a lot of us figure god wouldn’t do
that
oh god doesn’t do that and the reason
god
does that is because only in those
contexts will you see that he’s god
because the one thing about a dilemma is
you can’t get out of it
the one thing about a dilemma is you
don’t see an exit
and every direction you look in is
a trap when god
is ready to move you to a new spiritual
experience with him
he will regularly do it in the midst of
a contradiction
and a conflict and that is their
scenario
verse 4 says of chapter 14 thus i will
harden
pharaoh’s heart and he will chase after
them
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to harden the heart means to make you
more rebellious than you already were
to harden the heart means to make you
meaner than you already were
to harden the heart is to make you worse
than you already were i think the verse
says and
god harden pharaoh’s heart
because when god is ready to give you
a new experience with him he will allow
you to be put
into a situation that only he can get
you out of
when god is ready to make this move
doesn’t matter who you know what contact
you have
how much money you you possess or where
you live or the car you drive
when god is ready to give you a new
experience with him
he will regularly trap you
where you are verse 8 of chapter
14 says the lord hardened the heart
of pharaoh king of egypt and he chased
after
the sons of israel they finally get out
of
egypt they’ve been praying to get out of
egypt
he lets him out of egypt then he hardens
pharaoh’s heart to come after him
as pharaoh junior verse 10 the sons of
israel looked and behold the egyptians
were marching after them
and they became scared
it says they were very frightened and so
the sons of israel cried out
to the lord
water here pharaoh and his chariots here
and they’re closing in on the jews and
so they are
terrified so they do what many
christians do
they cry out to god help
help
while simultaneously complaining to man
verse 11 they said to moses is it
because there were no graves in egypt
that you have taken us away to die in
the wilderness
why have you dealt with us in this way
bringing us out of egypt is this not the
word
that we spoke to you in egypt saying
leave us alone
that we may serve the egyptians for it
would have been better for us to serve
the egyptians than to die in the
wilderness
so the conflict that they are in the red
sea
and the egyptians produces a spiritual
conflict within them
because on the one hand it says they
cried out on the god
but then on the other hand it says they
complained to moses
so i’m calling on god but i’m blaming
man
not only that but i’m confused
because the dilemma will confuse you
they said did not we tell you leave us
alone
we were happy being a slave in them corn
fields we were
we were happy being a slave picking that
cotton we were we were we were just
we were just swing low sweet chariots we
were just
happy slaves
never mind that they had been crying out
to god all the time
for god to get them out of here
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i’m sure you would agree with me that
this year has been very challenging
and the urban alternative has been being
bombarded
with people with questions as we faced
one crisis on top of another crisis on
top of another crisis
all over the nation and from or even
around the world
people are asking what does god have to
say about what we’re
facing and dealing with well we believe
that god
does have answers and that his word is
truth
and so we’ve been seeking to provide
that through expanding
our ministry not only on radio
and television but online and every
mechanism possible
because god has used this crisis to open
up a door of opportunity
your generous support for us will allow
us to
keep giving divine answers for our human
dilemma
never has there been a greater
opportunity for god’s word
to penetrate the lives the families
the churches and even the communities
of people who are desperate for a word
from heaven
and we’re committed to giving that word
would you help us
in this year very strong and launch into
the new year stronger than ever through
your generous year in contribution
we’ve never needed it more and the world
has never needed to hear from god
more we’re going to give that word to
the world
with your help thank you for your
support
and god bless you
so let me give you something you must do
when you’re caught
in a dilemma and god himself is
confusing you
you must appeal to someone if you cannot
appeal to yourself
who has a spiritual perspective
see if you confuse and you only talking
to
other confused people
who do not share a proper view
of god then all you’re going to do is
reinforce
the frustration of your dilemma if
god has allowed you to be there because
you’re
in the will of god even though you are
confused
then god alone has to give you
clarity
and so even though they were complaining
about moses
only moses could give them the proper
perspective
because moses was in touch with god so
moses said to the people because they’re
crying out to god and complaining
at the same time so moses says to the
people
do not fear stand by
and see the salvation of the lord
so he brings in a spiritual perspective
to their human dilemma
which he will accomplish for you the
egyptians
whom you have seen today you will never
see them
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again the lord will fight for you
while you are silent
not while you are talking
what he is referring to was the
complaining they were doing
not the crying out to god but the
complaining
god will fight for you while you keep
silent
they were now in the position of
submitting the spiritual authority
you must have spiritual authority in
your life
spiritual people to whom you can appeal
when you don’t have spiritual answers
yourself
and all you can see are the
circumstances
ah verse 15 then the lord said to moe
the lord said to moses
why are you crying out to me
tell the sons of israel
to go forward he says to moses
why are you crying out to me
tell israel to go forward
now the problem with that verse
is there’s nothing stated about moses
crying out to him
there’s no statement about moses crying
is that the people cried out
but then god turns to moses and says why
are
you crying out
says what i want you to do is tell
people now it’s time to move
tell them to move forward now here is
a principle he had just said
stand still do nothing
but now he gets another message that
says tell a man to go forward
so here it is when god puts you in a
dilemma
and there is nothing that you
can do or should do you do
nothing when god hasn’t given you
something to do that means he
there is not something he wants you to
do yet
but now he tells them to move forward
it says by faith they cross the red sea
remember faith is in your feet not in
your feelings
hebrews 11 29 says they did it by faith
because faith often has to operate
when fear is present
okay faith does not automatically
eradicate fear but
faith when it is operating
overrides fear because fear immobilizes
faith moves even when you are
fearful but when he gives you something
to do
you move he says tell the people to move
and so the people move
lift up your staff he lifts up the rod
now called the rod of god
he says i will again this word in verse
17 harden
the heart of the egyptians i’m gonna
make them harder
i’m gonna make them hate you more i’m
gonna make them come after you
worse than before
so that they will go in after them and i
will be honored through pharaoh and his
army
through his chariots and his horsemen
so moses stretches out his hand with the
rod verse 21
and the lord swept the sea back by a
strong wind
all night and turned the sea into dry
land
so the waters were divided the sons of
israel went through
verse 23 then the egyptians took up
pursuit
to see a sea open up
the water wall on both sides
this whole army of almost two million
people
walking through and you go in there
after them you got to be crazy
but they were made crazy by god
hardening their heart
so god may be hardening the heart of
your coworker
making them treat you bad worse
he may be hardening the heart of your
boss
making him treat you worse or that
person
in your life or that circumstance see
that’s why you got to be in the will
of god because when he makes it worse
he’s using it
i will harden pharaoh’s heart and the
egyptians will come
after you it says in verse 31
when israel saw say saul
see not they heard they saw when israel
saw the great power which the lord had
used against the egyptians
the people feared the lord and they
believed in the lord
and in his servant moses
why does god put you in a dilemma
when you’re in his will so you can see
something
it says when they saw the power of the
lord
they encountered god’s power
they said you know what those people
were saying they said take us back to
egypt
you know what god was trying to do he
was trying to deliver them from
something in their past
egypt was their past but you can get so
used to yesterday
that when the day goes bad on you you
want to go back
he says i’ma deliver you from yesterday
because i have a different tomorrow but
for me to deliver you from yesterday
to take you to a different tomorrow i’m
going to create confusion today
so i want you to look at your dilemma
that you’re either in
or that you will face differently
if you’re not walking by faith but only
walking by sight
begin to walk by faith and no longer
live a life of complaining
acknowledging the reality but not
blaming man for something god has done
because you now have this bigger view of
god
who wants to show you his power so that
he can blow your mind in a catch 22.
i want to conclude my time with telling
you
one of my dilemma moments we were
meeting
at a school in the early days of our
ministry
the school board said we could no longer
meet there we would have to
in a couple of weeks find another place
we were in a catch-22 we were in a
dilemma what would we tell the people
we went back to the school board and
asked them for an extension of time
they said they do not think we can get
it because there were too many board
members
with this whole thing of church and
state that were against
the church meeting in a school
but then they said but we will have a
final official vote but
the person who we talked to said let me
tell you now there are too many people
against you
all we did was call on god to intervene
and to do
something that was out of our hands
it was now the day of the vote and we
knew
the votes were against us we’ve been
told that by an
insider the meeting was supposed to
happen at a certain time
but the time went on and on and on and i
guess we’re sitting out there
close to two hours when it should have
been finished in 30 minutes
waiting for a decision
finally a lady comes out of the meeting
she says i am sorry it’s taken so long
but two of our board members are missing
they have not yet gotten to the meeting
so we tried to wait for them so we could
have a
full council vote but they have not
showed up
and we have decided to go ahead with the
vote
we went ahead with the vote and by one
vote
you have gotten approval to stay in the
school
by one vote when she finished coming out
the two who were missing rushed in
the two were missing rushed in but the
vote had already been taken
oh but that’s not the good part of the
story the good part of the story is
why they were late these two decided to
ride together
when they decided to ride together they
got
off of poke and 67 and there was an
accident at the light the accident after
life
held up traffic for almost two hours
where the traffic could not move so
within that two hours the vote was taken
so by the time the traffic got cleared
away
and they rushed in it was too late
because god had already set up a block
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the story in exodus chapter 18
says that the cloud and the pillar of
fire
went from in front of the jews and went
to the back of the jews
to create a block so that pharaoh’s army
could not get to them
until they crossed over so what god did
was he took the angel of the lord and he
left from in front of old cliff
he went to the back of old cliff he went
down to poke
and 67 allowed an accident to occur
at just the right time for just the
right amount of cars
in order to block what god’s purpose was
he created a dilemma now the good news
of that for you
is that i have never forgotten it so
anytime
now we run into a dilemma i remember
what happened at the end
of the 1970s anytime we run into a
problem
i remember that god is the same
yesterday
today and forever i remember to tell you
let’s move forward when god says move
even though we don’t see how it’s going
to work out cause the god
who can create an accident at just the
right time
can do whatever he decides to do in the
dilemmas
in our lives as long as we are in the
center
of his will come on and praise him
somebody
because he’s worthy because he wants you
to see him
for yourself in the dilemma
of your life
the power of god is often most
clearly seen in the contradictions of
life
when you’re caught between a rock and a
hard
when you find yourself stuck out on a
limb
when you find yourself up a creek
without a paddle
when in every direction you look
you feel trapped it is in the midst
of that reality that god’s power is most
clearly visible
now to be sure his power is always there
it’s just not always
seen until sometimes he allows things to
get so
out of hand that his power is your
only option so when life crushes in on
you
when hopelessness seems to rain and
there is no way out
when you look north and
south and east and west
and all you see is calamity closing in
on you
then in a unique and special way
god often breaks through and lets you
know he alone
is your answer that’s why job could say
i looked for him and couldn’t find him
in every direction i looked
he was invisible to me
but then he remembered the power of god
and he says when i get through this
when i get through this travail
i’m going to know how real god is
so i don’t know where you need god’s
power right now
i do know his power is available no
matter how deep the pit
you find yourself in don’t give up
look up his power is still there
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you