You Are Here

• Someone defined worry as a small trickle of fear that meanders through the mind, cutting a channel into which all other thoughts flow.

• The preacher John R. Rice said, “Worry is putting question marks where God has put periods.”

• Bishop Fulton J. Sheen called worry “a form of atheism, for it betrays a lack of faith and trust in God.”

How can you not worry?

• When you have a son who is in the military being inserted into deadly situations around the globe?

• How can you not worry when your outflow exceeds your income, and the creditors are calling?

• How can you not worry when your loved one is diagnosed with cancer?

• How can you not worry when your job is terminated, your child is troubled, or your safety is at stake?

• To put it in line with our text, how can you not worry when the Red Sea faces you, the desert surrounds you, and the soldiers of Egypt are speeding towards you with drawn swords?

You Are Here (for a reason):

In the story of the Red Sea, the Israelites followed the pillar of cloud and fire as carefully as possible, thrilled with their new freedom, full of excitement about the future.

• Yet as they followed Him, God deliberately led them into a strategic nightmare between hostile hills, to the edge of a sea too deep and too wide to be crossed.

• When we read our text today there is no doubt, they were standing right on the “You are here” arrow God himself had led them to.

• He gave them specific, step-by-step instructions, leading them down a route to apparent ruin: Yes, right there in that impossible place.

The Lord occasionally does the same with us, testing our faith, leading us into hardship, teaching us wisdom, showing us His ways.

• Our first reaction usually is to panic, but we must learn to use scriptures and God’s promises as a spiritual GPS.

• Trust that He led us here for a reason

• When you are in a difficult place, realize that the Lord either placed you there or allowed you to be there for a reason.

• The same God who led you in will lead you out.

1 Peter 4:12-13 (NIV)

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

In other words, Christians shouldn’t be surprised when, in seeking to do God’s will, we find ourselves trapped in painful, frightening, difficult, or impossible situations.

• Life is hard—especially for Christians.

• (If you were sold on the butterflies and rainbows version of the gospel somebody lied to you)

• We have a determined enemy seeking to devour us.

John 16:33 (NIV)

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Sometimes the spot we find ourselves in may seem more than we can bear, but Christ can bear them.