Exodus 14:19
“And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:”
Looking the wrong way always causes a person to come to the wrong conclusion. When a person is driving and looking the wrong way, they can come to the conclusion that they are safe when in reality they could be headed for an accident right in front of them. Simply by not looking the right way they cannot see the hazards or the potential ahead of them.
The children of Israel certainly made this mistake when they approached the Red Sea. Behind them was the Egyptian army pursuing. They came to the conclusion that they should have stayed in Egypt because they thought the army was going to kill them. Yet, right in front of them was the presence of God. God had placed a cloud in front of them to lead them, but because they were looking the wrong way they could not see God’s presence. There were three areas where they were looking the wrong way.
First, they were looking to their past instead of their future. In front of them was victory and the will of God, but they were looking to their past which caused them to want to go back. You can totally destroy your life by continually looking to your past. Your past has a way of making your future look dim, but what you don’t see with the past are the heartaches you endured while you were there. You cannot allow your past to rob you of a bright future. There must come a point in your life when you decide not to look to the past and to stay focused on your future. Your future is bright, but you must stay focused upon it.
Second, they were looking at their problems instead of their solution. They saw the problem of the Egyptian army, but in front of them was the solution to the Egyptian army: God. Looking at your past tends to lead you to dwell on your problems; whereas, looking to your future tends to help you to see that God is your solution. Stop looking at your problems and realize that God is your solution to every problem. You have no problem that God cannot solve, but you will never realize that until you take your eyes off your problems.
Third, they were looking at their strength instead of their Strength. When they looked to their past and saw their problems, they came to the conclusion that they were not strong enough to handle them. If they would have looked to their future, they would have realized their solution was in the strength of the LORD. God is your strength. He can help you through anything you face if you will simply look to Him and trust Him. Your problem is not greater than He can handle. Stop dwelling on your problems and realize that God is the strength you need to overcome them.
Friend, if you look the wrong way you will always come up with the wrong solutions. Which way are you looking? At what are you looking? It all starts by looking towards your future. Looking towards your future is the catalyst that allows you to see your solution and realize that all strength comes from God. It is right there in front of you if you will look the right way. Decide right now to stop looking at your past. Purposely choose everyday to look towards your future, and you will always come up with the right solution to face any obstacle which comes your way.