(This follows on from the previous entry...)

I cried out to God with my voice—
To God with my voice;
And He gave ear to me.
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing;
My soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remembered God, and was troubled;
I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah

4 You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I have considered the days of old,
The years of ancient times.
6 I call to remembrance my song in the night;
I meditate within my heart,
And my spirit makes diligent search.

7 Will the Lord cast off forever?
And will He be favorable no more?
8 Has His mercy ceased forever?
Has His promise failed forevermore?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah

10 And I said, “This is my anguish;
But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the works of the LORD;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will also meditate on all Your work,
And talk of Your deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary;
Who is so great a God as our God?
14 You are the God who does wonders;
You have declared Your strength among the peoples.
15 You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

16 The waters saw You, O God;
The waters saw You, they were afraid;
The depths also trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
The skies sent out a sound;
Your arrows also flashed about.
18 The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The lightnings lit up the world;
The earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was in the sea,
Your path in the great waters,
And Your footsteps were not known.
20 You led Your people like a flock
By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Psalms 77:1-20 NKJ

After discovering the way in the Sanctuary, the Psalmist then discovered something else. God's Way was...

IN THE SEA

In other words, God's way is THROUGH the trouble, and not around it.

That sure isn't easy. If you're like me, sometimes you'd sooner be like the ostrich and stick your head in the sand, hoping the trouble will just go away.

But if we have any sense, we know that doesn't work. There comes a time when you just have to FACE IT!! Urghhh!!

Face the inevitable, eh? But we do need to face the reality of it, because we don't know how to pray unless we do....

... and then we can see the hand of the Lord move.

And as we step out in faith, He parts the water ahead of us, making a way where we could see NO way. If we try and avoid it, we will miss the blessing!!  And we miss the victory over the enemy.

I was talking to Phil yesterday, and he said, that to get the victory, sometimes you have to let the enemy THINK he's winning. Then you come against him with ALL the power God gives.

It's just like in this story that the Psalm is referring to. The children of Israel were at the Red Sea.... looked like they were going to be swallowed up by the enemy....

...but look what happened...

God took them THROUGH the sea, their biggest hurdle! And get this...

...the bonus was...

...the enemy was drowned in that SAME SEA that God used to rescue His people.

So then, the only way up is down!! As I said, let the enemy think he is winning. Well, he thought he'd won the biggest victory when Jesus hung on the cross....

So, if you loose stuff, the enemy thinks he's got ya, because he thinks that will bring you down. But God has a different idea. His way IS in the SEA, and THROUGH the sea.

But just remember ONE thing...

We cannot go through the SEA unless we've been in the SANCTUARY first!