by When You’re Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place
There’s a legendary story from the Korean War about General Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller. His battalion of Marines found themselves completely surrounded by enemy forces—outnumbered 29 to 1, outgunned, and out of options.
Instead of panicking, Chesty declared: “They are in front of us, behind us, and we are flanked on both sides by an enemy that outnumbers us 29 to one. They can’t get away from us now.”
He and his men fought their way out while losing very few soldiers.
Most of us would panic in impossible situations like that. When we feel surrounded and pressed in on every side, when every path seems like the wrong choice, we tend to panic, retreat, or give up.
But the apostle Paul had a different perspective: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. We are persecuted, but not abandoned. We are struck down, but not destroyed.”
The Israelites’ Impossible Situation
In Exodus 14, the Israelites faced their own impossible situation. After God delivered them from Egypt through the ten plagues, they found themselves trapped. The Red Sea blocked their path forward. Behind them, Pharaoh’s army—600 of the best chariots plus countless more—came barreling down on them like modern-day tanks.
The Israelites panicked: “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us out here to die in the wilderness? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die out here!”
Fear prevents us from living freely. The fear they felt in that moment made them wish they had lived out their lives as slaves rather than die as free people. Frederick Douglass boldly said, “It’s better to die free than to live as slaves.” But fear flipped that script for the Israelites.
What Fear Does to Us
Fear warps our reality in three critical ways:
1. Fear Limits Our Perceived Options
When we’re afraid, we start thinking in false dichotomies—black and white, one way or another. The Israelites saw only two options: drown or get slaughtered.
But with God, there’s always a third option. Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? They faced King Nebuchadnezzar’s ultimatum: bow to the idol or burn in the furnace. They responded: “If our God exists, he can rescue us. But even if he doesn’t, we’re not bowing down.”
The king saw two choices: bow or burn. But with God, there was a third way—don’t bow and don’t burn. They walked into the fire and God protected them.
2. Fear Gives People Too Much Power and Makes God Too Small
When the Israelites saw the Egyptian army, they feared the soldiers more than they feared God. They gave their enemies too much power and forgot how big their God was.
Moses told them: “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation. The Lord will fight for you.”
Psalm 118 puts it perfectly: “The Lord is for me; I will not be afraid. What can a mortal do to me?”
Romans 8 echoes this truth: “If God is for us, who is against us? Neither death nor life, nor angels or rulers, nor things present or things to come will be able to separate us from the love of God.”
3. Fear Holds Us Back from God’s Plan
But God always has a plan. He told Moses to stretch out his staff over the water, and God sent a powerful wind that parted the Red Sea—walls of water on both sides with dry ground through the middle. The Israelites crossed to safety while God held back the Egyptian army. When the Egyptians tried to follow, the waters closed over them.
“That day, the Lord saved Israel from the power of the Egyptians… and the people feared the Lord and believed in him.”
Living Without Fear
Jesus told his disciples: “Don’t be afraid of those who can kill the body but are unable to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Throughout history, countless believers have lived out this truth. Early martyrs like Polycarp declared: “Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and he has never done me any harm. How could I blaspheme my King who saved me?”
Modern martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed by the Nazis in 1945, spoke these final words: “This is the end. For me, the beginning of life.”
The camp doctor who witnessed his execution wrote: “I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”
You’ve Already Died
Here’s the truth that sets us free: if you’ve been baptized into Christ, you’ve already died. Your former life is gone. Paul writes in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
If you’ve already died, you have nothing left to fear. The greatest tool of fear is the fear of death itself—and that power is broken.
You have no reason to fear impossible situations. You have no reason to fear what people can do to you. You have no reason to fear stepping out in faith.
Make much of God and little of the people trying to cause you trouble. When you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, remember: with God, there’s always a third way.
Don’t let fear hold you back from living the life God has called you to live.
LISTEN TO OR WATCH THE FULL SERMON HERE:
Daniel N. Lee 
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