Exodus 14:26-31 (NKJV)

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses.

Now they believe! Ten plagues didn’t convince them, but this does. What’s so special this time?

It’s fear. Nothing focuses the mind like fear. With the plagues, the Israelites only heard about what happened, or sometimes were observers of it, but because they were spared the worst plagues they missed the terror. With the Passover, they had to play along, but there were still no panicked moments.

Now they’re scared out of their wits. They see their lives flash before their eyes. They whine and scream. Then they watch a miracle. Then they exhale. Then they get it.

This isn’t pulling quarters out of a child’s ear; this is drowning an army – an army that was about to cut them up with swords. They didn’t just see this; they felt it. So now they believe the LORD and in his servant Moses.

That won’t last though.

Belief fades. We see something with our own eyes and we know it’s true. Later, we’re not so sure.

What was that? Did I see what I thought I saw? Was it that dramatic? Was it really all that important?

This isn’t just about miracles. For example, belief in the danger of hurricanes fades all too quickly. After a few evacuations for hurricanes that miss, people get complacent. It doesn’t matter that the forecasters described the danger in terms of probabilities; the evacuations felt like false alarms. So people think they can ride the next one out. Then the big one hits – like Katrina in 2005 – and an easily avoided tragedy is visited on multitudes of innocent people.

Unfortunately, our faith is like that. We all have a bit of a “what have you done for me lately” attitude. When God grants prayer requests, our faith is strengthened. When He teaches us patience, it’s weakened.

Screwtape called this undulation. Don’t worry about it. The troughs are as useful as the peaks for growth.

The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies