Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and author of over 100 books, booklets & Bible studies. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 1,300 US outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.

[Music]

I remember to tell you let’s move

forward when God says move even though

we don’t see how it’s gonna work out

cuz the God who can create an accident

at just the right time can do whatever

he decides to do in the dilemmas in our

lives as long as we’re in the center of

his will

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[Music]

today I want to look at him encounter

with God’s power and this encounter with

God’s power comes in the context of a

dilemma

so a deliverer is when you’re in a

no-win situation been a dilemma it’s

nowhere I mean any direction that you

look in is a lose-lose you’re in a

dilemma the most noted story in Israel’s

history the crossing of the Red Sea

which was its biggest celebrated miracle

happened when they were simultaneously

in a dilemma the most celebrated story

the one that’s repeated over and over

and over in the Old Testament is the

story of the crossing of the Red Sea

it’s repeated in the New Testament when

the author of Hebrews talks about the

Great Hall of faith in Hebrews chapter

six he says that without faith it’s

impossible to please God in verse six

and then he comes in verse 29 and he

says by faith Israel crossed the Red Sea

and the Egyptian army was destroyed and

so this is no small deal but what I want

you to catch today is that they had

their divine encounter with God’s

problem in the context of a dilemma so I

want to prepare you today for an

encounter with God but I also want to

prepare you for a dilemma that provides

the context for that in Kelman now the

background to this is very clear Moses

has come through the twelve plagues the

ten plagues Andes

now leading the children of Israel out

of Egypt Pharaoh has responded now

finally to Moses is called and let my

people go

and so the people now are on their way

out from slavery to freedom they’re

excited they’re looking forward they’ve

been told that there’s this promised

land this purpose of God that God is

going to take them to and things are

looking rosy as they leave on their way

out it says in verse 17 of chapter 13

that God did not lead them by way of the

land of the Philistines even though it

was near I want you to catch verse 18

hits God led them so watch this their

dilemma is going to come about when God

is leading them their dilemma is going

to happen when they’re in the will of

God their dilemma is going to occur when

they’re being obedient because it says

God was leading them not only was God

leading them into what would be a

dilemma

it says God led them the long way around

he did not lead them in the short

distance not only that but God was going

before them verse 21 of chapter 13 says

in a pillar of cloud by day in a pillar

of fire by night he’s walking with them

in every step of the way and when they

are doing this zigzag through the

wilderness it says in chapter 14 pharaoh

will say that the sons of israel verse 3

they are wandering aimlessly in the land

and the wilderness has

amen and the wilderness will shut them

in so when he says and the wilderness

shall shut them in they’re gonna be in a

no-win situation that they can’t get out

of without coming back toward us and it

says and God was leading them he was

leading them into a cul-de-sac or what

you and I would call a trap see a lot of

us figured God wouldn’t do that

Oh God doesn’t do that and the reason

God does that is because only in those

contexts will you see that he’s God

because the one thing about a dilemma is

you can’t get out of it the one thing

about a dilemma is you don’t see an exit

in every direction you look in is a trap

when God is ready to move you to a new

spiritual experience with him he will

regularly do it in the midst of a

contradiction and a conflict and that is

their scenario

verse 4 says of chapter 14 thus I will

harden Pharaoh’s heart and he will chase

after them hmm to harden the heart means

to make you more rebellious than you

already were to harden the heart means

to make you meaner than you already were

to harden the heart is to make you worse

than you already were I think the verse

says and God hardened Pharaoh’s heart

because when God is ready to give you a

new experience with him he will allow

you to be put into a situation that only

he can get you out of when God is ready

to make this move doesn’t matter who you

know what context you have how much

money you you possess where you live or

the car you drive when God is ready to

give you a new experience where

him he will regularly trap you where you

are

verse 8 of chapter 14 says the Lord

hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of

Egypt and he chased after the sons of

Israel was frustrated to be about God is

he will make it look like he answered

your prayer

don’t anybody been there it looked like

you you praise the name you you’re all

excited you ready to give your testimony

and then he go left on you they finally

get out of Egypt they’ve been praying to

get out of Egypt he lets him out of

Egypt then he hardens Pharaoh’s heart to

come after him looks like he changed his

mind as Pharaoh Junia verse 10 the sons

of Israel looked and behold the

Egyptians were marching after them and

they became scared it says they were

very frightened and so the sons of

Israel cried out to the Lord

water here Pharaoh and his chariots here

and there closing in on the Jews and so

they are terrified so they do what many

Christians do they cry out to God help

how while simultaneously complaining to

man verse 11 they said to Moses is it

because there were no graves in Egypt

that you have taken us a way to die in

the wilderness

why have you dealt with us in this way

bringing us out of Egypt is this not the

word that we spoke to you in Egypt

saying leave us alone

that we may serve the Egyptians for it

would have been better for us to serve

the Egyptians than to die and the

wilderness so the conflict that they are

in the red

see and the egyptians produces a

spiritual conflict within them because

on the one hand it says they cried out

on the god but did on the other hand it

says they complain to moses so I’m

calling on God but I’m blaming man not

only that but I’m confused because the

dilemma will confuse you they said did

not we tell you leave us alone

we were happy being a slave in them

cornfields we were we were happy being a

slave picking that cotton we were we

were we were just we were just swing low

Sweet Chariot we were just happy slaves

never mind that they have been crying

out to God all the time for God to get

them out of here so let me give you

something you must do when you’re caught

in a dilemma and God Himself is

confusing you you must appeal to someone

if you cannot appeal to yourself who has

a spiritual perspective see if you

confused and you only talk enough other

confuse people who do not share a proper

view of God then all you’re going to do

is reinforce the frustration of your

dilemma

if God has allowed you to be there

because you’re in the will of God even

though you are confused then God alone

has to give you clarity and so even

though they were complaining about Moses

only Moses could give them the proper

perspective because Moses was in touch

with God so Moses said to the people

because they’re crying out to God and

complaining at the same time so Moses

says to the people do not fear okay

stop worrying because it’s going to be

okay stand by and see the salvation of

the Lord

so he brings in a spiritual perspective

to their human dilemma which he will

accomplish for you the Egyptians

whom you have seen the day you will

never see them again the Lord will fight

for you while you keep silent the Lord

will fight for you while you are silent

not why you are talking what is

referring to was the complaining they

were doing not to cry out to God but for

complaining God will fight for you while

you keep silent they were now in the

position of submitting the spiritual

authority you must have spiritual

authority in your life spiritual people

to whom you can appeal

when you don’t have spiritual answers

yourself and all you can see all the

circumstances verse 15 then the Lord

said the mode the Lord said to Moses why

are you crying out to me tell the sons

of Israel to go forward he says to Moses

why are you crying out to me tell Israel

to go forward now the problem with that

verse is there’s nothing stated about

Moses crying out to him there’s no

statement about Moses crying said the

people cried out but then God turns to

Moses and says why are you crying

when you’re in the pulpit you know the

right things to tell the people why are

you crying out to me Moses you you

you’re struggling like the people since

what I want you to do is tell people now

it’s time to move tell them to move

forward now here is a principle he had

just said stand still do nothing but now

he gets another message that says tell

them how to go forward so here it is

when God puts you in a dilemma and there

is nothing that you can do or should do

you do nothing when God hasn’t given you

something to do that means he there is

not something he wants you to do yet but

now he tells them to move forward it

says by faith they crossed the Red Sea

remember faith is in your feet not in

your feelings Hebrews 11 29 says they

did it by faith because faith often has

to operate when fear is present okay

faith does not automatically eradicate

fear but faith when it is operating

overrides fear because fear immobilizes

faith moves even when you are fearful

but when he gives you something to do

you move he says tell the people to move

and so the people move Moses lift up

your staff he lifts up the rod now

called the rod of God he says I will

again this word in verse 17 hardened the

heart of the Egyptians I’m gonna make

them harder I’m gonna make them hate you

more I’m gonna make them come after you

worse than before so that they will go

in after them and I will be honored

through Pharaoh and his army through his

chariots and his horsemen so Moses are

stretches out his hand with the rod

verse 21 and the Lord swept the sea back

by a strong wind all night and turned

the sea into dry land so the waters were

divided the sons of Israel went through

verse 23 then the Egyptians took up

pursuit to sea I’ll see open up the

water wall on both sides this whole army

of almost 2 million people walking

through and you go in there after them

you got to be crazy but they were made

crazy by God hardening their heart so

God may be hardening the heart of your

co-worker making them treat you bad

worse he may be hardening the heart of

your boss making him treat you worse or

that person in your life or that

circumstance see that’s why you’ve got

to be in the will of God because when he

makes it worse he’s using it I will

harden Pharaoh’s heart and the Egyptians

will come after you the result of all of

this is in the last verse of the chapter

it says in verse 31 when Israel saw they

saw see not they heard they saw when

Israel saw the great power which the

Lord had used the gangsta’ Egyptians the

people feared the Lord and they believed

in the Lord and in his servant Moses why

does God put you in a dilemma when

you’re in his will so you can see

something says when the people saw says

when they saw the power of the Lord they

encountered God

it’s power they said you know what else

people saying they said take us back to

Egypt you know what God was trying to do

he was trying to deliver them from

something in their past Egypt was the

past but you can get so used to

yesterday that when the day goes bad on

you you want to go back he says I’m

gonna deliver you from yesterday because

I have a different tomorrow but for me

to deliver you from yesterday to take

you to a different tomorrow I’m gonna

create confusion today so I want you to

look at your dilemma that you’re either

in or that you will face differently if

you’re not in the will of God get in the

will of God so that he can turn it into

something he can use if you’re not

walking by faith but only walking by

sight begin to walk by faith and no

longer live a life of complaining

acknowledging the reality but not

blaming man for something God has done

because you now have this bigger view of

God who wants to show you his power so

that he can blow your mind in a catch-22

some of you have heard this story

because you’ve been here for a while but

the newer people may not have heard the

story and so I want to conclude my time

with telling you one of my dilemma

moments we were meeting at a school in

the early days of our ministry we did

not have a permanent home at that time

we were meeting at this school and the

school board said we could no longer

meet there we would have to in a couple

of weeks find another place to have

worship we were in a catch-22

we were in a dilemma what would we tell

the people we went back to the school

board and asked them for an extension of

time they said they do not think we can

get it because there were too many board

members with this whole thing of church

and state that were against the church

meaning in a school but then they said

but we will have a final official vote

but the person who we talked to said let

me tell you now

there are too many people against you so

we were caught in a trick bag we were

caught in a dilemma we were up a tree we

will hit a creek we were between a rock

and a hard place and there was no human

solution all we did was call on God to

intervene and to do something that was

out of our hands it was now the day of

the vote and we knew the votes were

against us

we’ve been told that by an insider the

meeting was supposed to happen at a

certain time but the time went on and on

and on I guess we’re sitting out there

close to two hours when it should have

been finished in 30 minutes

waiting for a decision finally a lady

comes out of the meeting she says I am

sorry it’s taken so long but two of our

board members are missing they have not

yet gotten to the meeting so we try to

wait for them so we could have a full

council vote but they have not showed up

and we have decided to go ahead with the

vote we went ahead with the vote and by

one vote you have gotten approval to

stay in the school by one vote when she

finished coming out the two who were

missing rushed in the two were missing

rushed in but the vote had already been

taken oh but that’s not the good part of

the story the good part of the story is

why they were late these two

decided to ride together when they

decided to ride together they got off of

Polk and 67 and there was an accident at

the light the accident at the light held

up traffic for almost two hours where

the traffic could not move so within

that two hours the vote was taken so by

the time the traffic got cleared away

and they rushed in it was too late

cuz God had already set up a block the

story in Exodus chapter 18 says that the

cloud and the purifier went from in

front of the Jews and went to the back

of the Jews to create a block so that

Pharaoh’s army could not get to them

until they crossed over so what God did

was he took the angel of the Lord and he

left from in front of old cliff he went

to the back of Oh cliff he went down to

Polk and sixty-seven allowed an accident

to occur and just the right time for

just the right amount of cars in order

to block what God’s purpose was he

created a dilemma now the good news of

that for you

is that I have never forgotten it so

anytime now we run into a dilemma I

remember what happened at the end of the

1970s any time we run into a problem

I remember that God is the same

yesterday today and forever I remember

to tell you let’s move forward when God

says move even though we don’t see how

it’s gonna work out cuz the God who can

create an accident and just the right

time can do whatever he decides to do in

the dilemmas in our lives as long as

we’re in the center of his will come on

and praise Him somebody

because he’s worthy because he wants you

to see him for yourself in the dilemma

of your life

[Music]

sometimes it looks like God is taking

his time and too much time at that

you’ve been praying you too trusting

you’ve been obeying and nothing is

happening a one of the truths of

Scripture is that God allows us to

encounter him and his promises as he

prepares us to run smack dab into a

fresh encounter with him when God makes

us wait he is preparing us for the

promised but he’s also preparing the

promise for us and what he wants in that

moment is a divine encounter with him

this is exactly what happened with God

told Abraham to offer Isaac in Genesis

22 God was preparing to fulfill a

promise a promise that took many years

to come to fruition but God wanted to

first give Abraham an encounter with him

in the sacrifice of his son and for that

encounter to happen it involved a series

of contradictions things that don’t make

sense sacrifice my own son when you said

he was going to be the promise it

doesn’t make sense when God’s promise is

delayed and when it looks like it’s

about to be fulfilled and then a

contradiction occurs that’s time for

kelman God wants to show you in

something that doesn’t make sense how

much he makes sense in keeping his word

even though you had to wait to see it

fulfilled and the key to understanding

this encounter that God had with Abraham

and that he wants to have with you and

me is the phrase now I know that you

fear me you see God wants to know that

we trust him even when trusting him is

the last thing we want to do so if your

trust is wavered and you’ve been waiting

too long you’re close to the moment of

your divine encounter don’t give up keep

on going and as Abraham said let’s watch

and see the Lord provides the solution

to this problem

God has a ram in the bush for you like

he had a ram in the bush

[Applause]

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