Discovering Destiny (Part 16): What Happens When God Says, “GO!”

https://youtu.be/daPCsCFwPZg?si=HwLCMG0Ewq3fCCDT

Today, we continue our focus on THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, as we learn to maintain our posture of faith after God has revealed His plans for our future.

Yesterday, in our “Discovering Destiny” series, we watched God lead His own people to a dead end. Water in front, Pharaoh’s army closing in behind, and no way out that they could see. Moses told them not to be afraid, to stand still, and to watch the Lord do the fighting for them. Today we find out what happened when God moved, because the same God who told them to stand still is about to tell them to go forward. And this is the moment the whole story turns, because this is where a company of former slaves stopped running away from their past and started walking into their destiny. The Red Sea was not just an escape route. It was the threshold. And what God asked them to do at that threshold is the same thing He is asking of you.

Key scriptures for this year:

2 Peter 3:18 GNT“But continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever.”

Luke 10:20 Mirror“It’s time for you to rediscover who you are from Heaven’s perspective.”

1 John 3:10 Mirror“There is a very visible and vast difference between living one’s life from your God identity or from a fallen man’s mindset.”

Proverbs 25:2 NKJV“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Scripture we will study today:

Exodus 14:15 ERV“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you still crying to me? Tell the Israelites to start moving.'”

Exodus 14:16 ERV“Raise the walking stick in your hand over the Red Sea, and the sea will split. Then the people can go across on dry land.”

Exodus 14:21 ERV“Moses raised his hand over the Red Sea, and the Lord caused a strong wind to blow from the east. The wind blew all night long. The sea split, and the wind made the ground dry.”

Exodus 14:22 ERV“The Israelites went through the sea on dry land. The water was like a wall on their right and on their left.”

Supporting scriptures:

Hebrews 11:8 ERV“God called Abraham to travel to another place that he promised to give him. Abraham did not know where that other place was. But he obeyed God and started traveling because he had faith.”

Hebrews 11:29 ERV“And God’s people all walked through the Red Sea as if it were dry land. They were able to do this because they had faith. But when the Egyptians tried to follow them, they were drowned.”

Exodus 14:19 ERV“Then the angel of God moved to the back of the people. (The angel was usually in front of the people, leading them.) So the tall cloud moved from in front of the people and went to the back of the people.”

Exodus 14:28 ERV“The water returned to its normal level and covered the chariots and horse soldiers. Pharaoh’s army had been chasing the Israelites, but that army was destroyed. None of them survived!”

Exodus 14:31 ERV“The Israelites saw the great power of the Lord when he defeated the Egyptians. So the people feared and respected the Lord, and they began to trust the Lord and his servant Moses.”

Exodus 15:1 ERV“I will sing to the Lord! He has done great things. He threw horse and rider into the sea.”

Isaiah 43:2 TPT“When you pass through the deep, stormy sea, you can count on me to be there with you. When you pass through raging rivers, you will not drown.”

Setting the Stage:

It seemed like Israel was trapped. They had the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh and his army closing in. But they did the hard thing. They stopped panicking, and they stood still. Now watch God work, because His first move is a surprise. He does not tell Moses to pray harder or worship louder. He says, “Why are you still crying to me? Tell the people to go forward.” The water had not opened yet. God told a nation of slaves to march straight at a sea with no bridge, no boat, and no visible way across.

That is what discovering your destiny actually looks like. It is not a comfortable stroll into a future you can already see. It is a terrifying step toward water that has not opened, into a life you have never lived. On the Egyptian side of that sea, they were slaves. On the other side, they were a free nation with a calling. The only thing standing between who they were and who God made them to be was one move they were too scared to make. Today we will discuss what God does when His people are crazy enough to STEP INTO what looks like an impossible situation.

So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.

1. Discovering Your Destiny Means Moving Before You Can See The Way.

Yesterday the command was to stand still. Today the command is to go forward. Both came from the same God, and both were faith. But look at the order in Exodus 14:15-16 carefully, because it will preach to you. God says to tell the people to move, and THEN the sea will split. The command to go forward came before the water ever opened. They had to step toward the sea while it was still a sea. This is the scary part nobody warns you about. Launching into your destiny means walking toward something you cannot yet see a way through, trusting that the God who called you forward will open it while you move.

How this applies to you:

— Exodus 14:15 ERV says, “Why are you still crying to me? Tell the Israelites to start moving.” There is a season to pray, and there is also a season to DO what God tells you in prayer.

— Exodus 14:16 ERV says the sea would split. Notice they had to move toward the water while it was still solid water in front of them. The path showed up as they walked, not before.

— You do not discover your destiny from the shore; you discover it by stepping in.

— Bishop Richard B. Peoples Sr. taught me, many years ago, that God can do MORE with you, ONCE you get started. 

— I like to say that you can hypothesize, strategize, theorize, and analyze all you want, but at some point you have to go do something. 

— Launching into the unknown is supposed to feel scary. Walking toward a sea with no bridge is terrifying. That fear is not a sign you heard God wrong. Many times it is the proof that you are finally moving.

— Hebrews 11:29 ERV says, “God’s people all walked through the Red Sea as if it were dry land… because they had faith.” 

— They discovered the road by putting their feet on it. The Sea did not open while they were praying. It opened while they were walking. There is a major lesson here for us.

— Destiny is on the other side of a step you are scared to take.

— Hebrews 11:8 ERV says Abraham “started traveling because he had faith,” even though he “did not know where that other place was.” Every person who ever discovered their calling moved before they had the map.

— God will not part a sea for people who refuse to move their feet, so stop waiting for new equipment and use the stick already in your hand. 

— God has given you what you need to get to where you’re going, but you must learn how to use what’s in your hand. 

2. God Secures Your Past So It Cannot Drag You Back.

Before the sea ever moved, God took care of what was chasing them. Exodus 14:19-20. The cloud that had led them from the front the whole journey moved to the back and stood between Egypt and Israel. Same cloud, new position. Here is why that matters for anyone God is moving into new territory. The moment you step toward your destiny, everything you are leaving behind will try to pull you back. So before God opened the way in front of them, He became a wall behind them.

How this applies to you:

— Exodus 14:19 ERV says, “the tall cloud moved from in front of the people and went to the back of the people.” The God who leads you forward is the same God who guards your back.

— Exodus 14:20 ERV says, “There was light for the Israelites. But there was darkness for the Egyptians.” The same presence that is peace to you can create confusion for your enemies.

— God got between His people and their past.

— When you go forward, your old life does not go quietly. This is why the period right after you get born again is so dangerous. I’ve coined the phrase, “You told me you moved, but I keep finding you at your old address.” I bring this up because people have a hard time going forward if they keep going back. 

— As God is opening the way in front of you, He is also covering the ground behind you, because He knows that if you see a way to go back, your old desires may pull you right back to where He delivered you from.

— Thankfully, God loves you so much that the One who called you forward stands in the gap between you and everything you are leaving.

3. The Obstacle Is Actually The Doorway Into Your Destiny.

Here is the miracle, and here is the whole theme of this week. Exodus 14:21-22. Moses raised his hand, the wind blew all night long, and the sea split. The water that was their dead end yesterday became their doorway today. They walked through on dry ground with a wall of water on the right and on the left. God did not build a bridge over the problem or carve a road around it. He made a way straight through the middle of the very thing that was blocking them, and that way through was the road into everything He planned for them.

How this applies to you:

— Exodus 14:21 ERV says the wind “blew all night long. The sea split, and the wind made the ground dry.” The road forward often does not exist until you start moving toward it.

— Exodus 14:22 ERV says, “The Israelites went through the sea on dry land.” They did not have to deal with mud. God does not do halfway miracles.

— The thing standing between you and your destiny is the exact thing God is about to use to get you there.

— The dead end of yesterday became the doorway of today. Same water, different word from God. What blocks you in one season can become your pathway to the next.

— God specializes in making a way through, not just a way around.

— What God opens, no man can close.

4. You Discover Your Destiny By Crossing Over.

Now the finale. Watch what the crossing actually did. Exodus 14:27-28. The enemy Moses promised they would never see again, they saw one last time, dead on the shore. But here is what I do not want you to miss. When that water closed, it did more than drown an army. It closed the door on the life they used to run back to. They could not go back to Egypt even if they wanted to. 

How this applies to you:

— Exodus 14:28 ERV says, “that army was destroyed. None of them survived!” When God ends something, He ends it completely.

— When you launch into your destiny, God closes the door on the life you keep trying to run back to.

— Exodus 14:31 ERV says the people “began to trust the Lord and his servant Moses.” They crossed as doubters and arrived on the other side as believers. Real-life experiences grow your faith more than a book!

— You do not discover your destiny by studying it; you discover it by stepping into it.

— Exodus 15:1 ERV says they sang, “I will sing to the Lord! He has done great things.” The step that terrified them on one side of the sea became a song on the other side. Your scariest launch becomes your loudest praise.

— The name says it all. Moses means “drawn out of the water.” God named him as a baby for what He planned to do through him as a man. The one drawn out of the water was used to draw a whole nation out through the water. Purpose was in his name long before it was in his hands.

— God planned your destiny before you were born and finishes what He plans, so do not die on the shore of the very thing you were made to cross.

That’s enough for today.

Declaration of Faith:

Father, I thank You that You make a way where there is no way!

When You say go forward, I will move before I see the path!

I will not discover my destiny from the shore; I will step in!

My destiny is on the other side of a step I am scared to take!

You stand between me and everything that is chasing me!

The obstacle in front of me is the doorway into my destiny!

What You deliver me from, I will never see again!

You finish the destiny You planned for me before I was born!

I will not die on the shore; I will cross into my promise!

This is THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!

I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!