True North | Week 2 | Bill Bush

Pastor Bill Bush · Jan 19, 2021

Big Idea

When we run into the polar bear moments of life and want to escape, God is inviting us to engage more deeply with Him instead.

God is completely consistent in His love for us even though the way He works is often unpredictable, and the hard, out-of-control moments of life aren't Him abandoning us but Him opening a door to a deeper relationship with Him. Escape mentality looks backward to what we lost; engaging with God looks forward to where He's leading, even when that path runs straight through the sea.

Key points

1
1Facing a genuine danger with the right response is hard because fear pushes us toward the opposite of what actually helps.
Pastor Bill opens with a long story about researching what to do when you encounter a bear, discovering the advice is confusing and sometimes contradictory (get loud and big versus back away quietly), and that with a polar bear you're told to both wave your arms and speak in calm, low tones at the same time. He notes that even though every instruction makes logical sense on paper, fear in the actual moment makes people do the opposite of everything on the list.
2
2We naturally default to an escape mentality, which looks backward and just wants the pain to stop.
Building on last week's teaching that God is consistent yet unpredictable, Pastor Bill explains that escape mentality is focused on getting back to how things used to be rather than moving forward, and he ties this to everyone's hope that 2020's problems would just vanish once the calendar changed.
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3The Israelites at the Red Sea show us escape mentality in action, and most of us have focused on the wrong part of that story.
Reading Exodus 14, Pastor Bill shows the Israelites panicking when Pharaoh's army approached, crying out that they'd rather have stayed slaves in Egypt because at least the cemeteries were better there. He argues the story isn't really about celebrating Pharaoh's defeat but about God opening a door so His people could move forward into deeper trust.
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4God was present the whole time, leading them by cloud and fire, even while they thought He had abandoned them.
Pastor Bill points out that the angel of the Lord, likely the pre-incarnate Jesus, had been leading Israel the entire time in the pillar of cloud and fire, and that same pillar moved behind them to hold off the Egyptian army all night. He stresses that God's presence never left, even when His people felt panicked and alone.
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5Three practical moves let us accept God's invitation to engage instead of escape: stay calm, stand still, get moving.
Working through Moses' words in verses 13 through 15, Pastor Bill unpacks 'don't be afraid' as really meaning don't let fear make your decisions, 'stand still' as watching for what God is doing rather than staring at the problem (or fighting online instead), and 'get moving' as no longer waiting for circumstances to change before we follow where God has already opened the way.
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6Crossing the sea led Israel into a harder wilderness, because the point was never the better place — it was being with God.
Pastor Bill notes that after the miracle and celebration faded, Israel found themselves in a more inhospitable wilderness than before, on their way to Mount Sinai, because God wanted to covenant with them and be known by them, not just relocate them somewhere easier.
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7God pursues us not in anger but out of love, even when we run from His invitation.
Pastor Bill closes with a story about his wife as a little girl running from her pregnant mother, who was only trying to invite her in to watch cartoons and eat popcorn, and how she ran into the street and put herself in danger without realizing it. He applies this directly to how we run from God's invitation to engage, not realizing the spiritual danger, while God chases us out of love.

Application

Pastor Bill frames the whole charge around three words for the moment fear hits: stay calm, stand still, get moving.

Stay calm instead of letting fear decide
When you hit a confusing, restrictive, or scary situation, resist doing the first thing that promises quick relief — that's fear making your decisions, not trust in God.
Stand still and watch for God, not the problem
Get alone with God and ask why you're really so angry or afraid instead of Facebook fighting or fixating on the problem; let Him show you where He's inviting you deeper.
Get moving toward where God has already opened the way
Stop waiting for circumstances to calm down before you obey; once you see what God is calling you to do, start doing it now instead of saying 'when this changes, then I'll move.'

Take it into your week

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Day 1

There is something painfully honest about the Israelites' reaction at the Red Sea. They had just watched God send plague after plague on Egypt. They had walked out of slavery with their own two feet. And now, with Pharaoh's army thundering toward them, their first instinct was to look back — to wish they had never left. Pastor Bill pointed out that this escape mentality is not a sign of weak faith unique to ancient Israel. It is a deeply human reflex. When life gets hard enough, the familiar — even when the familiar was a form of bondage — can start to look like safety. We romanticize the past because the past, at least, is known. The pressure in front of us feels unbearable, so we mentally sprint for the exit. But notice what the Israelites were actually asking for: a return to chains. That is what escape so often offers us — the illusion of relief that actually leads us back to the very thing God was in the process of freeing us from. Before you can move forward with Moses' three principles this week, it helps to sit honestly with this first question: Where are you tempted to run right now, and what are you really running toward?

For reflection

When life's pressure builds, what familiar but unhealthy place do you find yourself mentally escaping to — and what does that reveal about where your trust currently sits?

Pray

Pray for honesty about the 'Egypt' you are tempted to return to, and ask God to help you see it clearly.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Think about a time — maybe in a movie, a news story, or something you've watched someone else walk through — when someone faced an impossible situation and had to decide whether to push forward or turn back. This message sits right in that tension.

Discussion questions

1
In Exodus 14:10-12, the Israelites see Pharaoh's army closing in and immediately want to go back to Egypt — back to the place they'd just been freed from. What does that reaction tell us about how people tend to respond when a hard situation feels bigger than the path forward?
2
Pastor Bill pointed out that the destruction of Pharaoh's army was a message aimed at Egypt, not the main point for Israel — God's goal was always to move His people forward into what He had for them. How does that reframe the way we might think about what God is doing in the middle of a painful or confusing season?
3
Moses tells the Israelites in Exodus 14:13, "Don't be afraid" — and Pastor Bill made the distinction that this isn't a command to suppress feelings, but a call not to let fear be the one making decisions. What's the difference between those two things, and why does that distinction matter for how we actually live?
4
The second principle Pastor Bill drew from Exodus 14:13 is to stand still — not staring at the problem, but fixing your eyes on where God is working. What might it look like practically for a community of people to do that together rather than alone?
5
In Exodus 14:15, God essentially tells Moses to stop crying out and start moving. Pastor Bill used this to call people to stop waiting for circumstances to improve before acting on where God is leading. What tends to make it hard for people to move before the circumstances feel right?
6
Pastor Bill closed by framing every difficult moment as God's invitation to engage with Him at a deeper level — and suggested that choosing escape means missing what He wants to give us. How might that idea shape the way we support one another when someone in our group is tempted to run the other direction?

Pray together

Ask God for the courage to stay, stand, and move — and for eyes to see where He is already at work

Topics

Divine Purpose God's Presence Moving Beyond Fear Trust in Crisis

True North | Week 2 | Bill Bush

Big Idea

Key points

Application

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

7-day devotional

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Small-group discussion guide

Open

Discussion questions

Pray together