God Will Make a Way: Trusting God When the Path Seems Impossible

When you’re trapped between obstacles and fear, and the way forward seems impossible, remember this powerful truth: God will make a way. Discover how the Israelites’ journey through the Red Sea reveals timeless principles of faith, surrender, and obedience that can unlock God’s miraculous provision in your own life.

 

God Still Makes a Way

Have you ever found yourself staring at a situation that seemed impossible?

Perhaps it’s a frightening medical diagnosis. A financial burden that keeps growing. A broken relationship. A closed door you desperately wanted God to open. No matter how hard you pray or how carefully you plan, you simply can’t see a way forward.

If that’s where you are today, take heart.

Throughout Scripture, we discover that God specializes in making a way where no way seems to exist. The same Lord who opened the Red Sea for Israel is still working in the lives of His children today. He has not changed. His power has not diminished. His promises remain true.

Our Christian life is a journey—a pilgrimage toward the life God has prepared for us. Just as He promised Israel, He desires to lead us into His blessings.

“For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing …” (Deuteronomy 8:7–9, ESV)

What a beautiful promise: A land of abundance, a land of provision, and a land where God Himself supplies every need.

Yet between God’s promises and God’s provision, there is often a journey of faith. Sometimes that journey brings us face-to-face with what seems like an impossible obstacle.

That’s exactly what happened to the Israelites.

Behind them thundered Pharaoh’s army, determined to drag them back into slavery. Before them stretched the Red Sea, an uncrossable barrier. Escape seemed impossible.

Can you imagine the fear they felt?

After 400 years of bondage, freedom was finally within reach. Yet now it appeared they would either drown in the sea or die beneath the swords of the Egyptians.

From a human perspective, there seemed to be only three possible responses.

Three Responses to Impossible Circumstances

1. Go Back

This is what fear urged them to do.

“It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14:12).

Fear has a remarkable way of making yesterday’s bondage look better than tomorrow’s promise.

When we’re frightened, we often romanticize the very things God delivered us from. Old habits suddenly seem comfortable. Familiar struggles seem safer than uncertain faith.

The enemy would love nothing more than for you to retreat from God’s calling simply because the journey became difficult.

2. Stand Still

Moses first encouraged the people:

“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord … The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (Exodus 14:13–14).

Those were exactly the words Israel needed in that moment. They didn’t need to panic. They didn’t need to fight the Egyptians.

God Himself would fight for them.

But standing still was never intended to become a permanent position.

Sometimes believers stop here. They wait indefinitely for God to do everything while never responding in obedience to His next instruction.

3. Go Forward

Then God spoke.

“Tell the people of Israel to go forward” (Exodus 14:15).

Forward? Toward the sea? Toward the impossible? Yes.

Because God’s solutions often begin where human possibilities end.

The waters did not part while Israel stood on the shoreline discussing every possible outcome. As they obeyed God’s direction, He created a path that had never existed before.

The God who made a way through the sea is still making ways today.

When you cannot see a path, trust the One who already knows where it leads.

What’s in Your Hand?

God’s message to Israel is still His message for His people today.

• Don’t go backward.
• Don’t become permanently stuck.
• Move forward in faith.

Perhaps that’s easier said than done.

You may be thinking, Lord, I don’t have what it takes. I don’t have enough strength, enough wisdom, enough resources, or enough experience.

Years before Israel reached the Red Sea, God asked Moses a simple question at the burning bush:

“What is that in your hand?” (Exodus 4:2).

Moses looked down.

“A staff.”

Just an ordinary shepherd’s rod.

But after Moses surrendered it to God, it was no longer merely a shepherd’s staff. Scripture even calls it “the staff of God” (Exodus 4:20).

That surrendered staff became an instrument through which God displayed His power.

• It confronted Pharaoh.
• It brought plagues upon Egypt.
• It stretched over the Red Sea.
• It struck the rock, bringing forth water.

The miracle was never in the wood. The miracle was in the God who used it.

What Has God Placed in Your Hand?

That question reaches across the centuries and speaks to every one of us.

What has God already entrusted to you?

• Perhaps it’s your time.
• Your abilities.
• Your resources.
• Your influence.
• Your testimony.
• Your compassion.
• Your willingness to obey.

Perhaps it doesn’t seem like very much.

It probably feels ordinary. Insignificant. Certainly not enough to accomplish everything God has placed on your heart.

Yet throughout Scripture, God repeatedly uses ordinary things surrendered to Him.

• Samson defeated an army with the jawbone of a donkey.
• David defeated Goliath with a sling and five smooth stones.
• A little boy placed five loaves and two fish into the hands of Jesus, and thousands were fed.

Notice the pattern. God doesn’t ask you to give what you don’t have.

He asks you to surrender what you do have.

When ordinary things are placed into extraordinary hands, miracles become possible.

Obedience Opens the Door

At the Red Sea, everything changed when Moses obeyed.

He lifted the staff and stretched out his hand. God parted the waters, and Israel walked across on dry ground.

The same waters that became a highway for God’s people became judgment upon the pursuing Egyptian army.

What changed?

Not God’s power. God had always been able.

The difference was obedience. The Israelites trusted God’s instruction and stepped into the path He created.

How many blessings wait on the other side of simple obedience?

Perhaps God has been asking you to release something you’ve been holding tightly.

• A fear.
• A dream.
• A relationship.
• A resource.
• A future you thought had to unfold your way.

Obedience is often the doorway through which God’s miracles enter our lives. We rarely see the entire journey. Instead, God usually asks us to trust Him with the next step.

As we obey, He faithfully reveals the next one.

Your Red Sea Is Not the End of Your Story

Perhaps today you feel trapped. Maybe your Red Sea looks impossible. But impossible circumstances never limit an unlimited God.

The same Lord who opened the sea for Israel still delights in demonstrating His faithfulness to those who trust Him.

Your breakthrough may not come the way you expect.

It may not arrive according to your timetable.

But God’s delays are never God’s denials. He is already working in ways you cannot yet see.

The Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians.

“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” (Exodus 14:31).

That is my prayer for you today. That you would trust Him even before you see the answer. That you would surrender whatever He has placed in your hands. That you would keep moving forward in faith instead of retreating in fear.

Your Red Sea may not disappear overnight. The obstacle may still look overwhelming today. But your circumstances never limit God’s power. The God who made a way through the Red Sea is able to make a way for you.

Trust Him. Follow Him. Keep moving forward.

He is faithful, and He will make a way—even where there seems to be no way.

One day you’ll look back and realize that what seemed like the end of the road was actually the place where God displayed His greatest power.

God bless you,

David Cerullo

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Can God still make a way in impossible situations today?

Yes. While God doesn’t always work in the same manner He did in biblical times, Scripture consistently shows that He remains faithful to guide, provide, and intervene according to His perfect wisdom. Christians can trust Him even when the solution isn’t immediately visible.

Why does God sometimes ask us to take a step of faith before we see the answer?

Faith requires trusting God’s character before seeing the outcome. Throughout the Bible, obedience often preceded the miracle, teaching believers to rely on God’s promises rather than their circumstances.

What does “Go forward” mean for Christians today?

Moving forward means responding obediently to God’s leading rather than allowing fear, discouragement, or uncertainty to keep us spiritually stuck. It may involve forgiving someone, pursuing God’s calling, giving generously, or taking another faithful step despite unanswered questions.

What can I do when I feel trapped like the Israelites at the Red Sea?

Begin by seeking God in prayer, grounding yourself in His Word, refusing to let fear dictate your decisions, and remaining open to His direction. Even when the path isn’t obvious, God often provides guidance one step at a time.

What is the significance of Moses’ staff?

Moses’ staff represented something ordinary that had been surrendered to God. Once dedicated to the Lord’s purposes, it became an instrument through which God demonstrated His extraordinary power.

How do I know what God has placed “in my hand”?

Consider the gifts, opportunities, relationships, resources, experiences, and abilities God has already entrusted to you. He often begins His work with what you already possess rather than what you wish you had.