“And in the future, your children will ask you, ‘What does all this mean?’ Then you will tell them, ‘With the power of his mighty hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt, the place of our slavery.’” (Exodus 13:14 NLT)

Have you ever been in a situation where the only way out was God? In other words, if God didn’t come through for you, you were dead in the water. Maybe it was a report from a doctor who said, “I’m sorry. There’s nothing more we can do for you.” Maybe it was a financial catastrophe that had you on the brink of collapse. Maybe it was the death of a loved one when you thought, I cannot survive this. That’s the type of situation the Israelites faced in Exodus 13.

God had delivered them from Egypt and was leading them to the Promised Land. The problem was they were being chased by the powerful Egyptian army, and their escape route was blocked by the Red Sea. They found themselves in a seemingly impossible situation, trapped between an unconquerable army and an impassable sea.

The good news? God was leading them. “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37 NKJV). God parted the sea, and the Israelites escaped.

Have you ever looked up the phrase “But God” in the Bible? We see it in Noah’s story. The Lord told Noah to build an ark. Noah boarded it with his family, and they bobbed around in the water for forty days and forty nights. By the thirty-eighth day, Noah must have been thinking, This is impossible! I’m so tired of hanging out with a bunch of stinking animals. Will we ever find dry land? And then Genesis 8:1 says, “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat. He sent a wind to blow across the earth, and the floodwaters began to recede” (NLT). But God.

We see it in the story of Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. He was falsely accused of a terrible crime by Potiphar’s wife and sent to prison. Talk about an impossible situation! But in prison, Joseph used his gift from God for interpreting dreams to help Pharaoh’s cupbearer. The cupbearer was released and went back to work for Pharaoh. When Pharaoh had a dream he couldn’t understand, the cupbearer recommended Joseph. Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and became the second most powerful man in Egypt. A famine struck the land, and Joseph was put in charge of the food supply. And guess who came to Egypt to buy food? Joseph’s brothers, the ones who had sold him into slavery. Joseph said to them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people” (Genesis 50:20 NLT). But God.

Not even death has the final word. Death seems so permanent, so hopeless. But we read in Psalm 49:15, “But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself” (NIV). But God.

How big is your problem? How big is your obstacle? How big is what you’re facing?

The good news for you is that God is bigger and more powerful than anything you’re facing.

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