{"id":27,"date":"2010-07-30T10:13:05","date_gmt":"2010-07-30T09:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.pender.org.uk\/?p=27"},"modified":"2011-08-26T11:53:41","modified_gmt":"2011-08-26T10:53:41","slug":"sea-through","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2010\/07\/sea-through\/","title":{"rendered":"Sea Through"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters,
making a dry path through the sea.<\/strong>
(Isaiah 43:16, NLT)<\/p>\n

God came at just the right moment for the Israelites.<\/p>\n

They were in big trouble! When they\u00a0 had escaped from slavery in Egypt, a great future lay in front of them but, as they headed on towards that future, they were haunted by their past, chased by their past. In fact, their past, in the shape of the Egyptian army, was hot on their heels, determined to pull them back. Then their future seemed to be cut off too – the sea was blocking their way.<\/p>\n

\"walking<\/p>\n

Stand at the coast and look at the sea in front of you. You don’t have a boat handy, no hovercraft, helicopter, no bridge – nothing that this world can offer as a “solution.”<\/p>\n

How would you feel if crossing the sea was the only way out?<\/p>\n

The past has a nasty habit of catching up on us, rushing up behind us, trying to drag us back. Too often we look to the things of this world to get us out of it – money, drink, holidays, sex, shopping, drugs\u00a0 – the list is endless, and none of them can really deal with it. If we can cross our sea on a big, fancy bridge, then so can the past that haunts us. We can try doing it on our own, but there are few swimmers who can make it all the way across a sea.<\/p>\n

Maybe you are at a sea now, maybe the past is catching up with you. You just can’t shake it off, and now you have run out of options. There is a way out, you know. There is a way into a good future, a life of freedom from fear, depression, loneliness, addiction – whatever it is that wants you back as a slave! Stand at the sea and cry out to God! Ask him to part the waters! Ask him to show you the path, the way through!<\/p>\n

The Israelites were shown the way through the sea and crossed to the other side. Their pursuers were drowned as the sea crashed in on them. Your enemy can be drowned in the sea that you cross.<\/p>\n

Cry out to God now! Jesus is the way through!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stand at the coast and look at the sea in front of you. You don’t have a boat handy, no hovercraft, helicopter, no bridge – nothing that this world can offer as a “solution.” How would you feel if crossing the sea was the only way out?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[10,29,31,35,37,38,45,48,54,55,64,67,75],"class_list":["post-27","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian","tag-addiction","tag-depression","tag-egypt","tag-fear","tag-freedom","tag-god","tag-isaiah","tag-jesus","tag-loneliness","tag-lord","tag-prayer","tag-sea","tag-trouble","category-5","description-off"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfWaLo-r","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7131,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/10\/7-the-big-sea\/","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":0},"title":"7 – The Big Sea","author":"Robert Pender","date":"27\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7132\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" style=\"vc_box_shadow_3d\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]For most of the first 20 years of my life I lived next to the Clyde, a beautiful river with stunning scenery around it. Where I was, the river was very wide and was for most of the time calm. Occasionally the wind would get up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7242,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/12\/14-plans\/","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":1},"title":"14 – Plans","author":"Robert Pender","date":"16\/12\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7243\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I have always been a great believer in making plans, especially when we are doing something special or going away somewhere. It is best to get it right and not miss anything out. Be in control! The trouble is that we are seldom, if ever in control.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4531,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2019\/05\/a-shadow-of-my-future-self\/","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":2},"title":"A shadow of my future self","author":"Robert Pender","date":"01\/05\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column width=\"1\/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"4532\" img_size=\"full\"][\/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1\/2\"][vc_column_text css=\"\"]Many years ago I had a very sore back. It would come and go every few months. First one side would hurt and, just as it was getting better, then the other side would start to hurt. I have a very vivid memory of John\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christianity"","block_context":{"text":"Christianity","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/christian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7072,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/09\/just-thinking-what\/","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":3},"title":"3 – Just thinking what?","author":"Robert Pender","date":"30\/09\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7073\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" style=\"vc_box_shadow_3d\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Most of the time, all is calm, then I'm in a bit of a storm. I was never a great fan of big dippers and so I always kept away from them. The trouble with this big dipper is that it comes to get me! I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7117,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/10\/6-yesterdays-tomorrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":4},"title":"6 – Yesterday’s Tomorrow","author":"Robert Pender","date":"18\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7118\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" style=\"vc_box_shadow_3d\" css_animation=\"zoomInLeft\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I spent a lot of time thinking about the title of today's episode - Tears for Fears, Yesterday, Perfect Day, Tomorrow Never Comes, All Our Yesterdays - and a couple of dozen others that I can't remember for the life of me. Maybe I can't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1865,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2010\/11\/can-i-help-mr-cameron\/","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":5},"title":"Can I help, Mr Cameron?","author":"Robert Pender","date":"28\/11\/2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I was interested to read that Prime Minister, Mr Cameron, is going to spend \u00c2\u00a32million on measuring the happiness of the British people. Happiness, according to the dictionary is a state of well being and contentment. I do not see a lot of contentment in the society in which we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christianity"","block_context":{"text":"Christianity","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/christian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}