Don't Quit - How to Have a Faith That Finishes Strong
In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, one of the most electrifying moments in sports history took place in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay. Michael Phelps was chasing his record eight gold medals, and Team USA desperately needed this race to stay alive. But as the final leg began, the Americans were behind — badly behind — by more than half a second. In swimming, that’s not a gap; that’s a canyon.
Jason Lezak, the oldest swimmer in the field at age 32, dove in for the anchor leg chasing Alain Bernard of France, a world-record holder who had confidently declared earlier in the week that France would “smash the Americans.”
The commentators had already thrown in the towel.
The crowd knew it was over.
Even the split-times on the scoreboard were grim.
But Jason Lezak refused to accept the verdict.
Stroke by stroke, he reeled Bernard in. And in the final half-meter, with the world watching, Jason Lezak surged ahead and touched the wall first — setting a world record and delivering one of the greatest comeback splits in Olympic history (46.06 seconds).
The crowd exploded.
The commentators screamed.
Michael Phelps leapt out of the water.
A miracle finish — because one man refused to fold.
That moment teaches us something vital:
Victory doesn’t belong to the one who starts strongest,
but to the one who finishes with faith.
And that’s exactly what Exodus 14 shows us today.
Today we are going to see a faith that finishes — even in the midst of struggle, fear, pressure, and impossibility.
To understand Exodus 14, we need the context. The story begins with God giving Moses His plan back in Exodus 7. What God said then explains everything He does from Exodus 7 to Exodus 14.
Exodus 7:1–5 (ESV)
And the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land.
But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
Pharaoh will not listen to you.
Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.
The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
This is the playbook.
This is the purpose.
This is the framework for everything that follows.
God tells Moses:
God is not reacting — He is orchestrating.
He is not improvising — He is executing a plan.
And the plan is not ultimately about Moses…or Israel…or Pharaoh.
It is ultimately about God’s glory.
FIVE THINGS GOD HAS BEEN DOING SINCE THE BURNING BUSH
Now, trace the journey from Exodus 3 (burning bush) to Exodus 14 (Red Sea):
1. It’s about Him.
God would deliver Israel, yes — but He would also dismantle Egypt’s worldview, god by god, plague by plague.
Some of us struggle with God’s pace because we think it’s about our comfort.
But God’s goal is not to make life easy —
His goal is to make His glory known.
2. He is gracious to teach us.
The plagues are classrooms.
The wilderness is a classroom.
Waiting is a classroom.
God is teaching Israel to trust Him.
3. He is gracious to provide for us.
Slide: Exodus 12:35–36 (ESV)
The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.
And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked.
Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
God funds His mission.
God supplies what He commands.
God provides what His people need.
4. He is gracious to equip us.
Slide: Exodus 13:18 (ESV)
But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea.
And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.
5. He is gracious to lead us.
Exodus 13:21–22 (ESV)
And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way,
and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light,
that they might travel by day and by night.
The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
God is not absent.
God is not passive.
God is not distant.
God leads. Every step. Every moment. Every mile.
Exodus 14:1–4 (ESV)
Then the LORD said to Moses,
“Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon;
you shall encamp facing it, by the sea.
For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’
And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.”
And they did so.
They obeyed — even when the plan looked illogical.
Sometimes following God feels like walking into a trap.
But if God placed you there, it’s not a trap — it’s a setup.
Pharaoh hears their location.
He thinks they’re lost.
He changes his mind — again.
God hardens his heart — again.
He unleashes his elite forces — chariots, horsemen, warriors.
Verse 9:
“The Egyptians were marching after them.”
Dust on the horizon.
Thunder of hooves.
Chariots glinting in the sun.
Panic rising.
Fear spreading.
And here’s where the first voice shows up.
I. THE VOICE OF FEAR – Exodus 14:10–12
Slide: Exodus 14:10–12 (ESV)
When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly.
And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.
They said to Moses,
“Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?
What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?
Is not this what we said to you in Egypt:
‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’?
For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
a. Caught by fear – “Oh no!!!”
Fear blinds us.
Fear overwhelms us.
Fear hijacks our emotions.
Fear distorts reality.
Israel immediately panics.
b. Cry out in prayer
But it’s not a prayer of faith.
It’s a prayer of panic.
Short. Tight. Desperate.
Sometimes our prayers are too small because our fear is too big.
c. Complain, complain, complain
When fear takes over…
Listen to their questions:
Fear rewrites the past and sabotages the present.
d. Contrast yesterday with today – “It would have been better if…”
When life gets hard, the past suddenly looks easier.
Even when “back then” was bondage.
Fear will always exaggerate the comfort of yesterday
and minimize the possibility of tomorrow.
If you listen to the voice of fear, you cannot have a finishing faith.
Fear will:
Fear always whispers:
“Go back.”
Faith always whispers:
“Go forward.”
II. THE VOICE OF FAITH – Exodus 14:13–14
When the voice of fear is screaming…
When the chariots are closing in…
When the past looks safer than the future…
When panic is rising…
Moses stands up and speaks the voice of faith.
Exodus 14:13–14 (ESV)
And Moses said to the people,
“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today.
For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Faith speaks with clarity and confidence.
There are four declarations of the voice of faith:
1. Fear Not
The most repeated command in Scripture — over 365 times — is:
“Do not fear.”
Not because circumstances aren’t frightening.
But because God is present, powerful, and reliable.
Picture a child trembling at the end of a diving board — knees shaking, toes gripping the edge. Then a father steps forward in the water, lifts his arms, and says:
"I’m right here. Jump.
I won’t let you drown."
The voice they trust overpowers the fear they feel.
That’s Moses here.
Faith doesn’t ignore fear — faith refuses to be ruled by it.
2. Stand Firm
Standing firm means:
Sprinters in track sometimes “false start,” not because the race began, but because their fear fired before the gun did.
Fear creates false starts.
Faith keeps your feet planted until God speaks.
3. Look Up — “See the salvation of the Lord.”
Fear looks at Pharaoh.
Faith looks at Yahweh.
Fear looks at the enemy.
Faith looks at the Deliverer.
Fear looks at the circumstances.
Faith looks at the God who holds the circumstances.
4. Be Confident — “You will never see them again.”
This is God saying:
“This enemy is done.”
“This bondage is broken.”
“This threat will not define your future.”
“This oppressor will not follow you into your promise.”
Faith takes God at His word.
Now that God has allowed Moses to speak faith,
the next voice we hear is the voice of the Father.
III. THE VOICE OF THE FATHER – Exodus 14:15–18
Slide: Exodus 14:15–18 (ESV)
The LORD said to Moses,
“Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.
And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them,
and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
The Father’s voice does four things:
A. The Father asks questions — “Why do you cry to me?”
He’s not angry.
He’s teaching.
A father uses questions to shape thinking.
A father teaching a child to ride a bike:
A good dad doesn’t just shout instructions — he asks:
Questions form instincts.
That’s what God is doing with Moses.
B. The Father challenges our thinking
God had already told Moses:
Moses didn’t need new information —
he needed renewed clarity.
Sometimes we don’t need a new word.
We need to remember the last one.
C. The Father calls us forward — “Go forward.”
This is a command to take a step before the miracle happens.
The sea is still closed.
The water is still in place.
The way is still impossible.
And God says:
“Forward.”
In Navy SEAL BUD/S training, candidates perform a night parachute jump.
It is pitch black.
They cannot see the ground.
They cannot see the landing zone.
They cannot see their parachute until it catches air.
On the plane, before the jump, the instructor says:
“You will not jump because you see.
You will jump because you trust my voice.”
One by one, they step into the darkness.
Not because visibility is clear —
but because obedience is required.
This is exactly what God commands Israel:
Step before you see.
Lex Gillette has been blind since age eight.
When he runs down the long-jump runway, he sees nothing:
His sighted guide stands at the end, shouting:
“FLY, LEX! FLY!”
Lex runs full speed toward the sound of a voice he trusts
— and he leaps into the void.
He cannot see.
He has no visual reference.
He trusts a voice.
Faith does the same.
Faith runs toward the voice of the Father.
Faith leaps before the path appears.
Faith moves when God calls “Forward!”
D. The Father keeps His purposes in front of us
Two purposes are always present:
1. Salvation for Israel
“that the people may go through”
2. Revelation for Egypt
“that the Egyptians will know I am the LORD”
God always works for both His people and His glory.
How do we discern the Father’s voice?
The Father’s voice never conflicts with His character.
Now the text transitions from God speaking to God moving.
This leads to the next voice…
The voice of a friend.
IV. THE VOICE OF A FRIEND — My Voice, Your Pastor
God begins to move — not just speak — and what happens next is stunning.
Exodus 14:19–20 (ESV)
Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,
coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel.
And there was the cloud and the darkness.
And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
There are two simple but powerful descriptors:
God shifts His position.
God rearranges the battlefield.
God places Himself between Israel and Egypt.
This is not subtle.
This is not gentle.
This is not a small adjustment.
This is God physically stepping between His people and their enemy.
Let me speak to you now as a friend — your pastor:
When God finally moves, will you receive it?
Because some people pray for God to move…
Cry for God to move…
Fast for God to move…
Beg for God to move…
But when He finally does…
They don’t have the eyes to see it.
They don’t have the faith to recognize it.
They don’t have the humility to embrace it.
So hear the questions clearly:
When God finally moves, will you receive it?
When God finally moves, will you be in spiritual position?
When God finally moves, will you call it what it is — God’s deliverance?
When God finally moves, will you give Him glory?
Some of you have been in a long season of frustration.
Some of you have let fear wear down your hope.
Some of you have let waiting erode your faith.
Some of you have stopped looking for God to do anything.
Your heart has hardened.
But the God of Exodus 14 is a God who moves — powerfully, decisively, intentionally.
Don’t miss His movement. Don’t close your heart. Don’t let fear deafen your ears.
Don’t fail to recognize the salvation of the Lord when it is right before you.
Now we come to the great climactic moment — God acting in power.
This is where the Scripture comes alive.
Exodus 14:18–28 (ESV)
18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,
20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel.
And there was the cloud and the darkness.
And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24 And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic,
25 clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily.
And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.”
26 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.”
27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared.
And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.
28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen;
of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea,
not one of them remained.
V. THE VOICE OF FINISHING FAITH
Exodus 14:30–15:2
Israel has heard:
Now comes the voice we all need —
the voice of finishing faith.
This is the voice that takes us from crisis…to confidence…to worship.
Exodus 14:30–15:2 (ESV)
30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians,
and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
31 Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians,
so the people feared the LORD,
and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
15:1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying,
“I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The LORD is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father's God, and I will exalt him.”
These verses are a hinge.
A turning point.
A spiritual pivot.
They move from panic to praise,
from fear to faith,
from pressure to praise,
from crying to singing.
And the whole pivot rests on two words:
THUS
THEN
Let’s break them down.
THUS — What God Has Done
“Thus the LORD saved Israel…”
“Thus…” = A summary word. A testimony word. A remembrance word.
1. The LORD saved Israel.
God’s salvation is always decisive and complete.
2. Israel saw the LORD’s great power.
They witnessed the miracle with their own eyes.
3. Israel feared the LORD.
This is awe, reverence, trembling joy.
4. Israel believed in the LORD and in Moses.
Deliverance strengthens faith.
“Thus” is looking back and saying:
“Look what God has done.”
Every believer needs a “Thus” —
a moment where you remember His faithfulness.
THEN — Our Response
“Then Moses and the people of Israel sang…”
Worship is the proper response to deliverance.
This isn’t a polite song.
It’s not a quiet hymn.
It’s not whispered.
It’s not subdued.
This is a victory song.
“The LORD is my strength…”
“The LORD is my song…”
“The LORD is my salvation…”
“This is my God…”
“I will praise Him!”
“I will exalt Him!”
Finishing faith worships.
Finishing faith sings.
Finishing faith rejoices.
Finishing faith exalts the God who saves.
The story does not end with the sea parting.
It ends with the people singing.
Because salvation leads to worship.
Exodus 14 is not just a story about Israel.
It’s a story about you.
Your fear.
Your faith.
Your steps.
Your obedience.
Your Red Sea moments.
Your finishing faith.
This leads us into our final illustration — one of the most iconic finishing moments ever recorded in sports.
In 1986, during the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii, a young athlete named Julie Moss was leading the race. But near the end, her body collapsed. Severe dehydration and exhaustion overtook her. She fell repeatedly — legs buckling beneath her.
Each time she stood up, she crashed again.
Spectators gasped.
Commentators urged someone to help.
Other runners passed her.
But Julie Moss had one goal:
“I’m going to finish.”
She crawled the final stretch — hands and knees across the pavement.
It wasn’t pretty.
It wasn’t fast.
It wasn’t glamorous.
But it was a finish.
That image — crawling, straining, pushing — became a symbol of perseverance and grit.
And that is what Exodus 14 is teaching us:
Sometimes faith sprints.
Sometimes faith walks.
Sometimes faith limps.
Sometimes faith crawls.
But finishing faith finishes.
This blog is based on the message shared by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025 from our CityRise Church Bellaire campus. Check out the full message below!
Jason Lezak, the oldest swimmer in the field at age 32, dove in for the anchor leg chasing Alain Bernard of France, a world-record holder who had confidently declared earlier in the week that France would “smash the Americans.”
The commentators had already thrown in the towel.
The crowd knew it was over.
Even the split-times on the scoreboard were grim.
But Jason Lezak refused to accept the verdict.
Stroke by stroke, he reeled Bernard in. And in the final half-meter, with the world watching, Jason Lezak surged ahead and touched the wall first — setting a world record and delivering one of the greatest comeback splits in Olympic history (46.06 seconds).
The crowd exploded.
The commentators screamed.
Michael Phelps leapt out of the water.
A miracle finish — because one man refused to fold.
That moment teaches us something vital:
Victory doesn’t belong to the one who starts strongest,
but to the one who finishes with faith.
And that’s exactly what Exodus 14 shows us today.
Today we are going to see a faith that finishes — even in the midst of struggle, fear, pressure, and impossibility.
To understand Exodus 14, we need the context. The story begins with God giving Moses His plan back in Exodus 7. What God said then explains everything He does from Exodus 7 to Exodus 14.
Exodus 7:1–5 (ESV)
And the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land.
But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
Pharaoh will not listen to you.
Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.
The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
This is the playbook.
This is the purpose.
This is the framework for everything that follows.
God tells Moses:
- I will multiply signs → the 10 plagues
- Pharaoh will resist because of a hardened heart
- Israel will be delivered
- Egypt will know that I am the LORD
- I will get glory through the entire process
God is not reacting — He is orchestrating.
He is not improvising — He is executing a plan.
And the plan is not ultimately about Moses…or Israel…or Pharaoh.
It is ultimately about God’s glory.
FIVE THINGS GOD HAS BEEN DOING SINCE THE BURNING BUSH
Now, trace the journey from Exodus 3 (burning bush) to Exodus 14 (Red Sea):
1. It’s about Him.
God would deliver Israel, yes — but He would also dismantle Egypt’s worldview, god by god, plague by plague.
Some of us struggle with God’s pace because we think it’s about our comfort.
But God’s goal is not to make life easy —
His goal is to make His glory known.
2. He is gracious to teach us.
The plagues are classrooms.
The wilderness is a classroom.
Waiting is a classroom.
God is teaching Israel to trust Him.
3. He is gracious to provide for us.
Slide: Exodus 12:35–36 (ESV)
The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.
And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked.
Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
God funds His mission.
God supplies what He commands.
God provides what His people need.
4. He is gracious to equip us.
Slide: Exodus 13:18 (ESV)
But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea.
And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.
5. He is gracious to lead us.
Exodus 13:21–22 (ESV)
And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way,
and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light,
that they might travel by day and by night.
The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
God is not absent.
God is not passive.
God is not distant.
God leads. Every step. Every moment. Every mile.
Exodus 14:1–4 (ESV)
Then the LORD said to Moses,
“Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon;
you shall encamp facing it, by the sea.
For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’
And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.”
And they did so.
They obeyed — even when the plan looked illogical.
Sometimes following God feels like walking into a trap.
But if God placed you there, it’s not a trap — it’s a setup.
Pharaoh hears their location.
He thinks they’re lost.
He changes his mind — again.
God hardens his heart — again.
He unleashes his elite forces — chariots, horsemen, warriors.
Verse 9:
“The Egyptians were marching after them.”
Dust on the horizon.
Thunder of hooves.
Chariots glinting in the sun.
Panic rising.
Fear spreading.
And here’s where the first voice shows up.
I. THE VOICE OF FEAR – Exodus 14:10–12
Slide: Exodus 14:10–12 (ESV)
When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly.
And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.
They said to Moses,
“Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?
What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?
Is not this what we said to you in Egypt:
‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’?
For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
a. Caught by fear – “Oh no!!!”
Fear blinds us.
Fear overwhelms us.
Fear hijacks our emotions.
Fear distorts reality.
Israel immediately panics.
b. Cry out in prayer
But it’s not a prayer of faith.
It’s a prayer of panic.
Short. Tight. Desperate.
Sometimes our prayers are too small because our fear is too big.
c. Complain, complain, complain
When fear takes over…
- Our prayers shrink
- Our complaints multiply
Listen to their questions:
- “What have you done?”
- “Why did you bring us here?”
- “We told you this was a bad idea!”
- “It would have been better back there!”
Fear rewrites the past and sabotages the present.
d. Contrast yesterday with today – “It would have been better if…”
When life gets hard, the past suddenly looks easier.
Even when “back then” was bondage.
Fear will always exaggerate the comfort of yesterday
and minimize the possibility of tomorrow.
If you listen to the voice of fear, you cannot have a finishing faith.
Fear will:
- keep you stuck
- keep you small
- keep you spiritually paralyzed
- keep you repeating cycles
- keep you from stepping into God’s plan
Fear always whispers:
“Go back.”
Faith always whispers:
“Go forward.”
II. THE VOICE OF FAITH – Exodus 14:13–14
When the voice of fear is screaming…
When the chariots are closing in…
When the past looks safer than the future…
When panic is rising…
Moses stands up and speaks the voice of faith.
Exodus 14:13–14 (ESV)
And Moses said to the people,
“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today.
For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Faith speaks with clarity and confidence.
There are four declarations of the voice of faith:
1. Fear Not
The most repeated command in Scripture — over 365 times — is:
“Do not fear.”
Not because circumstances aren’t frightening.
But because God is present, powerful, and reliable.
Picture a child trembling at the end of a diving board — knees shaking, toes gripping the edge. Then a father steps forward in the water, lifts his arms, and says:
"I’m right here. Jump.
I won’t let you drown."
The voice they trust overpowers the fear they feel.
That’s Moses here.
Faith doesn’t ignore fear — faith refuses to be ruled by it.
2. Stand Firm
Standing firm means:
- Do not run
- Do not quit
- Do not flinch
- Do not panic
- Do not react to fear’s impulses
Sprinters in track sometimes “false start,” not because the race began, but because their fear fired before the gun did.
Fear creates false starts.
Faith keeps your feet planted until God speaks.
3. Look Up — “See the salvation of the Lord.”
Fear looks at Pharaoh.
Faith looks at Yahweh.
Fear looks at the enemy.
Faith looks at the Deliverer.
Fear looks at the circumstances.
Faith looks at the God who holds the circumstances.
4. Be Confident — “You will never see them again.”
This is God saying:
“This enemy is done.”
“This bondage is broken.”
“This threat will not define your future.”
“This oppressor will not follow you into your promise.”
Faith takes God at His word.
- Faith speaks truth when fear speaks lies.
- Faith reminds you who God is, not who the enemy is.
- Faith anchors your feet when fear pulls at your heart.
- Faith looks for salvation, not escape.
- Faith expects God's victory, not personal defeat.
Now that God has allowed Moses to speak faith,
the next voice we hear is the voice of the Father.
III. THE VOICE OF THE FATHER – Exodus 14:15–18
Slide: Exodus 14:15–18 (ESV)
The LORD said to Moses,
“Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.
And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them,
and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
The Father’s voice does four things:
A. The Father asks questions — “Why do you cry to me?”
He’s not angry.
He’s teaching.
A father uses questions to shape thinking.
A father teaching a child to ride a bike:
A good dad doesn’t just shout instructions — he asks:
- “Where are your eyes?”
- “What happens when you stop pedaling?”
- “What do you feel in the handlebars?”
Questions form instincts.
That’s what God is doing with Moses.
B. The Father challenges our thinking
God had already told Moses:
- Pharaoh will pursue
- Israel will look trapped
- God will get glory
- Israel will be delivered
- Egypt will know He is LORD
Moses didn’t need new information —
he needed renewed clarity.
Sometimes we don’t need a new word.
We need to remember the last one.
C. The Father calls us forward — “Go forward.”
This is a command to take a step before the miracle happens.
The sea is still closed.
The water is still in place.
The way is still impossible.
And God says:
“Forward.”
In Navy SEAL BUD/S training, candidates perform a night parachute jump.
It is pitch black.
They cannot see the ground.
They cannot see the landing zone.
They cannot see their parachute until it catches air.
On the plane, before the jump, the instructor says:
“You will not jump because you see.
You will jump because you trust my voice.”
One by one, they step into the darkness.
Not because visibility is clear —
but because obedience is required.
This is exactly what God commands Israel:
Step before you see.
Lex Gillette has been blind since age eight.
When he runs down the long-jump runway, he sees nothing:
- Not the runway
- Not the board
- Not the pit
- Not the crowd
His sighted guide stands at the end, shouting:
“FLY, LEX! FLY!”
Lex runs full speed toward the sound of a voice he trusts
— and he leaps into the void.
He cannot see.
He has no visual reference.
He trusts a voice.
Faith does the same.
Faith runs toward the voice of the Father.
Faith leaps before the path appears.
Faith moves when God calls “Forward!”
D. The Father keeps His purposes in front of us
Two purposes are always present:
1. Salvation for Israel
“that the people may go through”
2. Revelation for Egypt
“that the Egyptians will know I am the LORD”
God always works for both His people and His glory.
How do we discern the Father’s voice?
- His Word — He never contradicts Scripture
- His Spirit — gently guiding, confirming, aligning
- Wise Counsel — godly voices echoing God’s truth
- Circumstances — doors God opens or closes
The Father’s voice never conflicts with His character.
Now the text transitions from God speaking to God moving.
This leads to the next voice…
The voice of a friend.
IV. THE VOICE OF A FRIEND — My Voice, Your Pastor
God begins to move — not just speak — and what happens next is stunning.
Exodus 14:19–20 (ESV)
Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,
coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel.
And there was the cloud and the darkness.
And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
There are two simple but powerful descriptors:
- “The angel of God… moved.”
- “The pillar of cloud… moved.”
God shifts His position.
God rearranges the battlefield.
God places Himself between Israel and Egypt.
This is not subtle.
This is not gentle.
This is not a small adjustment.
This is God physically stepping between His people and their enemy.
Let me speak to you now as a friend — your pastor:
When God finally moves, will you receive it?
Because some people pray for God to move…
Cry for God to move…
Fast for God to move…
Beg for God to move…
But when He finally does…
They don’t have the eyes to see it.
They don’t have the faith to recognize it.
They don’t have the humility to embrace it.
So hear the questions clearly:
When God finally moves, will you receive it?
When God finally moves, will you be in spiritual position?
When God finally moves, will you call it what it is — God’s deliverance?
When God finally moves, will you give Him glory?
Some of you have been in a long season of frustration.
Some of you have let fear wear down your hope.
Some of you have let waiting erode your faith.
Some of you have stopped looking for God to do anything.
Your heart has hardened.
But the God of Exodus 14 is a God who moves — powerfully, decisively, intentionally.
Don’t miss His movement. Don’t close your heart. Don’t let fear deafen your ears.
Don’t fail to recognize the salvation of the Lord when it is right before you.
Now we come to the great climactic moment — God acting in power.
This is where the Scripture comes alive.
Exodus 14:18–28 (ESV)
18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,
20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel.
And there was the cloud and the darkness.
And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24 And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic,
25 clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily.
And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.”
26 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.”
27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared.
And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.
28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen;
of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea,
not one of them remained.
V. THE VOICE OF FINISHING FAITH
Exodus 14:30–15:2
Israel has heard:
- The voice of fear
- The voice of faith
- The voice of the Father
- And the voice of a friend
Now comes the voice we all need —
the voice of finishing faith.
This is the voice that takes us from crisis…to confidence…to worship.
Exodus 14:30–15:2 (ESV)
30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians,
and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
31 Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians,
so the people feared the LORD,
and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
15:1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying,
“I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The LORD is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father's God, and I will exalt him.”
These verses are a hinge.
A turning point.
A spiritual pivot.
They move from panic to praise,
from fear to faith,
from pressure to praise,
from crying to singing.
And the whole pivot rests on two words:
THUS
THEN
Let’s break them down.
THUS — What God Has Done
“Thus the LORD saved Israel…”
“Thus…” = A summary word. A testimony word. A remembrance word.
1. The LORD saved Israel.
God’s salvation is always decisive and complete.
2. Israel saw the LORD’s great power.
They witnessed the miracle with their own eyes.
3. Israel feared the LORD.
This is awe, reverence, trembling joy.
4. Israel believed in the LORD and in Moses.
Deliverance strengthens faith.
“Thus” is looking back and saying:
“Look what God has done.”
Every believer needs a “Thus” —
a moment where you remember His faithfulness.
THEN — Our Response
“Then Moses and the people of Israel sang…”
Worship is the proper response to deliverance.
This isn’t a polite song.
It’s not a quiet hymn.
It’s not whispered.
It’s not subdued.
This is a victory song.
“The LORD is my strength…”
“The LORD is my song…”
“The LORD is my salvation…”
“This is my God…”
“I will praise Him!”
“I will exalt Him!”
Finishing faith worships.
Finishing faith sings.
Finishing faith rejoices.
Finishing faith exalts the God who saves.
The story does not end with the sea parting.
It ends with the people singing.
Because salvation leads to worship.
Exodus 14 is not just a story about Israel.
It’s a story about you.
Your fear.
Your faith.
Your steps.
Your obedience.
Your Red Sea moments.
Your finishing faith.
This leads us into our final illustration — one of the most iconic finishing moments ever recorded in sports.
In 1986, during the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii, a young athlete named Julie Moss was leading the race. But near the end, her body collapsed. Severe dehydration and exhaustion overtook her. She fell repeatedly — legs buckling beneath her.
Each time she stood up, she crashed again.
Spectators gasped.
Commentators urged someone to help.
Other runners passed her.
But Julie Moss had one goal:
“I’m going to finish.”
She crawled the final stretch — hands and knees across the pavement.
It wasn’t pretty.
It wasn’t fast.
It wasn’t glamorous.
But it was a finish.
That image — crawling, straining, pushing — became a symbol of perseverance and grit.
And that is what Exodus 14 is teaching us:
Sometimes faith sprints.
Sometimes faith walks.
Sometimes faith limps.
Sometimes faith crawls.
But finishing faith finishes.
This blog is based on the message shared by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025 from our CityRise Church Bellaire campus. Check out the full message below!
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April
A Note from Pastor RogerTest God in ThisJoining into God's Kingdom WorkA Note from Pastor RogerGod Will Protect YouFinding Purpose and DirectionA Note from Pastor Roger - Easter Sunday at CityRise ChurchWhy Death Isn't the EndThe Resurrection of Jesus Changes EverythingA Note from Pastor RogerYou Don't Need to Perform
May
A Note from Pastor RogerThe Wrong Voices: Finding True Life in JesusHow to Be Free From RegretA Note from Pastor RogerFinding Clarity in a World Full of NoiseJesus is the Way, the Truth, and the LifeBecause You Give: Girls and Moms RetreatA Note from Pastor RogerThree Ways to Abide in ChristWhat Does Jesus Want?A Note from Pastor RogerBecause You Give: Wednesday NightsBugging God with Your BurdenA Note from Pastor Roger
June
Because You Give: VBS+Living the Sent LifeA Note from Pastor KirbyBecause You Give: CRMC Work UpdateJesus' Mission BriefYour Backstory is Your PowerA Note from Pastor RogerBecause You Give: VBS/VBX RecapIntentional ParentingThe Power of Being Present as a FatherA Note from Pastor RogerBecause You Give: Kenya Mission TripHow to Cultivate Spiritual Growth That LastsA Note from Pastor RogerBecause You Give: El Salvador Mission TripExposing the Enemy's Hidden Tactics
July
You Don't Have to Fix All the Evil in the World (Do This Instead)A Note from Pastor RogerFinding Hope in Your SufferingA Special Note - Texas Hill Country FloodingNavigating SufferingSouth Africa Mission Trip Prayer GuideA Note from Pastor RogerBecause You Give: Missouri City VBSThe Gateway to GreatnessA Note from Pastor Kirby
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