A New Year (part II)

By Odon Bulamba (02.01.04)

The people of Israel (after preparing their luggage) started their journey and they were just following Moses. At some stage they found that the situation was hard because they looked behind and they saw the army of Egypt was following them. So fear started, panic rose up, everybody turned to Moses, ‘Moses where are we going, why did you let us leave Egypt to go somewhere there is no life?’ Complaining started.

It is true that during 2003 we have been going through a lot of problems and a lot of situations that were not easy, maybe you reached the point that you started to complain and say, ‘God where am I going with this, why this in my life, why is my life so hard, God tell me why am I crossing what I am crossing now?’

Moses did not know what to say and God continued to tell Moses, keep going and they reached a point where the sea was in front of them and there was no way out at all. That was the point that the mind of human being stopped, where the level of thinking was at its limit and they thought; this is our death. Maybe they thought we cannot overcome, we cannot win over this army of Egypt because we will be killed soon. Moses looked around and although he was the leader he didn’t know where to take those people. He called upon God, ‘God intervene’ and all of us know what God did.

Through the Red Sea God made a way and God was showing his glory through smoke and fire. Some versions say smoke and light. During the day He was like smoke behind them and during the night He was light. And that smoke played a big role, it was like a barrier between the Israelites and Egyptians. Remember the Egyptians had horses and they were following the Israelites but God put smoke as a barrier between them. A horse can never cross smoke and a human being cannot open his eyes while going through smoke because smoke can damage eyes, you can’t see properly and whatever is behind a big smoke can’t be seen.

So what is behind us? I’ll call last year Egypt and I’ll compare last year to the army of Pharaoh because we had a lot of problems and many complicated situations were following us, we were attacked by satan, we were attacked by our friends, we were attacked by everything around us. This is the time that we are calling upon God and the Lord our God intervenes and He has put now that barrier, that wall of smoke between our last year’s problems and ourselves and we don’t have the right to turn and look back again. If the Israelite people had not turned behind, they could not have seen Pharaoh and his army coming but because of that, they had fear and they panicked. But for us because we have that block of smoke, if we look behind we can’t see what happened last year because last year is behind us.

The Bible said that God manifested Himself as light or fire in front of those people and whenever there is light or fire we can see everything clearly, even small things can be found if light is there. So this year, will be a year of light and fire, a year where we can be lead by God. It doesn’t mean we have to hold torches in our hands but it means that God Himself is taking care of us. First of all He makes a way through our difficulties, through our problems, through everything that is impossible for us.

I’ll give to you an example, let’s say that I need some money and I am not working or getting any benefit and I say, ‘God help me, I need some money because it is really urgent’. And God says, ‘ok, through this situation I will find a way for you.’ I remember before I came into this country I didn’t have money to pay for my ticket, I didn’t have anything to leave where I was to come to New Zealand and we were praying and praying asking God to help us. Although we were full of mistakes and full of sin and maybe people who did not please 100% God but because of His mercy, because He loves us, because of His patience with us, God opened the door.

I remember my brother used to pray for me too and I remember that he used to tell me that I’m praying for you every time and when now it came time for me to leave where I was, God opened the door, even though I didn’t have a passport or ticket and in this world you can’t travel without these but God made the way for me to travel. I didn’t have a passport or a ticket but I was allowed to come to New Zealand. Through that God made a way, He opened a way through the sea, whatever you think is impossible for you God can make it possible for you because everything is easy to be done by God. So don’t be discouraged, don’t think that God is far away from me, don’t think that God will not be able to solve your problem, know that God is able and is capable of everything.

So we started a new journey to NZ and when we reached NZ we didn’t know anyone and we didn’t know where to go but by God’s grace we started and we are whatever we are now. And the people of Israel were also thinking what will happen for us because we don’t know where we are going, we don’t have friends in Canaan, we know that Canaan is full of our enemies, we know that wherever we go people will fight against us. What shall we become?

The way that you are here with me, maybe you have a plan for this year, I’ll go to England, I’ll do such and such and such, that’s your plan. You think that other things I will not be able to fulfil them, you can sometimes think that you will not be able to do such and such thing so who will be able to do those tasks for you? From where will you get your help? Did you tell God about that, did you shout as Moses did calling upon Him saying God here I am I don’t know where to go? God our Lord is not a carpenter but that day He made a wall, a barrier which stopped the sea and a road was there, God is not a road maker but that day He was a road maker and everybody could cross the sea. Imagine how great the sea is, how great the diameter of the red sea is but those people walked through the sea and maybe they could see fish but they crossed and they didn’t care what was beside them. They didn’t care about hippopotamus or crocodile, they crossed the sea because their objective was to go across to the other side and their eyes were focused. So after crossing that they found that they were victorious people.

Now we have problems, maybe we are starting this new year with difficulties, with problems with our friends, families and others what shall we do. What did you tell God yesterday? What did you tell God on the 31st of December last year? Are we really able to cross the sea? Maybe we will fear and say if I go down maybe the water will come back and maybe I will lose my life. Maybe we will fear crocodiles around us or the sea because the sea has many mysterious things but put your fear aside don’t think about your fear, don’t think about your doubt, don’t think about your hesitations, think about God and look forward and think, ‘I know my objective is to cross my problems, my objective is to find solutions to my problems, solutions to my family’s problems, solution to the church, solution to everything which I thought was impossible’. Don’t be distracted, don’t look on the left side or right side while you are going in faith. Don’t look at things that are coming here and there, people may knock on your door and say, ok open the door, many people can tell you, ‘don’t do this, follow our advice, you know if you want to succeed in life do such and such and such’. It’s good to get some advice but you have to know that God is the better advisor, keep your faith in Him and then you will see.