Exodus 14:15-16 (NIV) Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.”

When the Israelites were finally freed from captivity in Egypt, it wasn’t long before they faced great opposition. Pharaoh had a change of heart in letting the people go and decided to go after them to bring them back and enslave them again. When the people saw what was happening, they froze in fear and began to complain and to argue with Moses about why he had brought them there. They almost longed to be back in Egypt (Exodus 14:11-12)! But the Lord intervened and told them to do something that they could not do in their own strength. He told them to move on, even though there was nowhere to move on to. He told them that, knowing what He was about to do. He was about to make a way where there was no way, and did He ever! He opened up the sea and dried the ground so that they could pass through it unhindered.

So here we go, off into a new year. While we had a day of respite yesterday (New Year’s Day), today we begin our year-long journey. Some of us are hopeful, some are apprehensive, and some are even a bit afraid. No matter where you fall on the spectrum of what we expect for this new year, we need to heed God’s call to move on. We have a tendency to let fear freeze us in our tracks when trouble rears its head in our lives. We get confused and stop the forward progress that we were making when we were trusting in Jesus. But let this reminder encourage you for the road ahead. One thing is for certain for this new year and it’s that trouble will come. It always does. This is not a negative statement, but just a statement of fact. But as followers of our Lord Jesus, we need not be apprehensive or afraid. While Jesus spoke reality into our lives when He told us that we would have trouble in this world, He also told us not to be afraid because He has overcome the world. What He was telling us is that when trouble does come, we need to continue to move on. We need to continue our journey, trusting that even though we don’t see the way out, it will be there when we believe Him and move on. We will have Red Sea moments and Jordan River-crossing moments as we heed God's call to move on ahead without fear because He is with us. A whole new year is before us, but our all-powerful and Mighty God is with us. Let’s move on with confidence into the new year in Jesus’ name!

Pastor Joey Vazquez