When You Are Stuck On An Escalator

VIDEO CLIP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq65aAYCHOw (copy / paste in address bar).

Sometimes in life we just feel stuck. Stuck in debt, stuck in grief, stuck in failure, stuck in a job we hate, stuck in a bad relationship, stuck in sin, stuck, stuck, stuck!

Sometimes we are stuck like the people in the clip. While the clip makes us snicker, the whole concept is absurd! Those people were stuck only in their mind and bound by a persuasion of helplessness.

Often God’s people acted as foolishly during their history. During the Exodus from Egypt, the Hebrews came to a stopping point. Because Pharaoh decided to chase the fleeing people, they were caught between the devil and the deep red sea

Read with me. “As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD. Then 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.’ But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.’ Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.’” Exodus 14:10-15 (NASB). Then, as you know, the Lord caused a powerful wind to divide the sea and the people walked through the gully with walls of sea water.

So, when that escalator stops and you feel stuck and helpless, let me encourage you.

I. DON’T PANIC:

A. “As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD. Then 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?”

1. What did they think?

a. That they didn’t matter to the Lord?

b. That He was unaware of the peril?

c. That He who had demonstrated His infinite power would with indifferent weakness let them die?

2. The problem was, and, at times, is, that

a. The danger seems to dominate the moment.

b. The focus is on the terror more than on trust.

c. The depth of faith in the care and power of God diminishes as the threat increases.

B. What is the Pharaoh pressing in on you?

1. A rocky marriage?

2. Declining health?

3. Burdensome debt?

4. Fear of Covid-19?

5. A lousy, boring, underpaying job with a tyrant boss?

6. The corruption of morality and ethics obvious at all levels and aspects of the world?

C. The disciples panicked

1. When they were in a storm on the sea.

2. When Jesus was betrayed and Arrested in Gethsemane.

3. When Jesus died on the cross and they went into hiding for fear of the Jews.

D. Do not panic!

1. Pharaoh might be behind you advancing relentlessly, and you are seemingly stuck.

2. But the Lord and His Moses are there on your side.

3. The sea will part if we cry out to the Lord in faith, though it be weak and shaky.

4. When we feel stuck, hopeless and helpless, though sometimes help seems slow in coming, in His time and way, the Lord will show up.

5. Panic is not going to help.

a. It stampedes us into making rash, unwise decisions.

b. It paralyzes us into immobility and inaction.

c. It saps us of strength and turns our legs into jelly.

d. It bypasses the mind and runs on emotions.

e. It prevents positive action to solving the threatening problem.

E. Larry Crabb tells this story from his childhood. When he was 3 years old, he decided that he could use the bathroom without anyone’s help. So he climbed the stairs, closed and locked the door and felt very self-sufficient.

Then when he wanted to leave. He couldn’t unlock the door. He tried with every ounce of his strength, but he couldn’t do it, so he panicked. He said he thought, "I might spend the rest of my life in this bathroom."