Kiss The Wave Series

Kiss the Wave

Exodus 14

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/sermons/

“The obstacle is not the enemy; the obstacle is the way”

With approximately 120 billion neurons, each capable of forming 10,000 or more synapses, the human brain is a marvel of divine craftsmanship. King David’s words resonate deeply: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful; I know that full well” (Psalm 139:14). Remarkably, neuroscientists like Dr. Wilder Penfield discovered that our brains could record every experience in vivid detail, much like an internal hard drive in our cerebral cortex. Yet, this God-given gift of memory often becomes a battleground where we struggle to recall events rightly and bury the pain of dead yesterdays. Mark Batterson captures this tension well, reminding us that while we may not be responsible for what happens to us, we are “response-able.” Trials, like raging hurricanes, are often beyond our control, but how we respond is not. Will we let pain own and destroy us, or will we choose to rely on God, allowing adversity to deepen our faith and love for our Creator? This sermon will explore how to transform our natural inclination to blame God during difficult times into opportunities to trust and grow in Him. Despite the astounding complexity of our God-designed minds, they often become the stage where we wrestle with pain, doubts, and the weight of past experiences.

Our memories, designed by God to recall His faithfulness, can instead magnify our pain and doubts. This was true for the Israelites, who, despite witnessing God’s miracles, struggled to trust Him in the wilderness.

Blaming God

Imagine what it must have been like to be an Israelite during the time of Moses. To hear him boldly proclaim to Pharaoh, “Let my people go,” in the face of the ruler who had enslaved, whipped, and worked your family into lives of misery and premature death, must have filled your heart with hope. Witnessing the power of God as the Nile, the lifeblood of Egypt’s gods, turned to blood, followed by plagues of frogs, gnats, flies, disease, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn (Exodus 7–11), would have been undeniable proof that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was not only real but had come to deliver His people. Leaving Egypt with the wealth of your oppressors in hand, granted by favor from the Egyptians, must have seemed like the pinnacle of faith. Yet, just three days into the journey, the desert heat and the bitter water at Marah eroded that newfound trust, leading to complaints against Moses and God (Exodus 15:22–24). By the fifteenth day of the second month, you were already longing for the predictability of Egyptian oppression, lamenting that death in slavery seemed preferable to starvation in freedom (Exodus 16:1–3). This pattern of doubt and rebellion ultimately culminated in Christ’s heartbreaking accusation centuries later: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you!" (Matthew 23:37–38), underscoring humanity's persistent failure to fully trust in God's power and promises. Yet, as incredible as these miracles were, the Israelites’ faith wavered almost immediately when faced with the harsh realities of the wilderness, revealing how quickly we forget God’s power in the face of new challenges.

But how do we move from blaming God to trusting Him in our darkest moments? The answer lies in remembering His promises and leaning on His Word. When we find ourselves in tribulations, we often respond like the Israelites—forgetting God's past providence and instead blaming Him for our present struggles. How easily we, like Job, view our trials not only as injustices but as evidence of God’s neglect! Even if we refrain from directly blaming Him, we are often quick to torment ourselves with doubts, asking whether our "new normal" will have any semblance of dignity or joy. Yet, if we truly believe the promise that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28), we can look beyond the pain and suffering to embrace the truth that God will never leave nor forsake us—He loves us so deeply that He gave His only Son, Jesus, to die for our sins (John 3:16). While God sometimes delivers us from suffering, more often He delivers us through it, transforming our valleys of tribulation into fertile grounds where faith and spiritual maturity can grow (James 1:2–4). When we choose to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5–6), we open ourselves to His sustaining grace. The obstacle is not the enemy, the obstacle is the way. Are you blaming God for your current circumstances, or are you trusting Him to carry you through?

Yet, just as the Israelites needed to trust God in their wilderness, so must we learn to ‘kiss the wave’ in our own trials, embracing the challenges that drive us closer to the Rock of Ages. Joseph Merrick and Charles Spurgeon offer powerful examples of how faith transforms suffering.