FATC Days of Christmas (Day 5)…The River Doesn’t Part Until You Step In

FATC Days of Christmas (Day 5)… The River Doesn’t Part Until You Step In 

Remember…Our FATC motto —It’s not just about the fly fishing. Well, Christmas is approaching and I have a gift for my FATC brothers. Who knows…for some it may be just the gift they need, but didn’t realize it.

I’ve recently enjoyed reading Daniel Bryant’s book, GOD MUST BE A FLY FISHER, and I think many of you will enjoy it also. I’m reprinting a short chapter each day from now through New Year’s Day. This is not just a book about fly fishing. It’s a book about slowing down. It’s a book about seeing that every moment outdoors might be an invitation to come closer to the One who created it all.

(From God Must Be A Fly Fisher by author Daniel Bryant)

The River Doesn’t Part Until You Step In

If you’ve ever stood on the bank of a fast-moving river, wondering how on earth you’re going to get across without getting swept away —congratulations. You’ve just gotten a tiny taste of what Moses felt at the edge of the Red Sea.

Picture it: Behind him, Pharaoh’s army thundering across the desert. Chariots, spears, rage, dust. In front of him? A wall of water. Deep, dark, and wide. No bridge. No boat. No way forward.

Just panic and prayer.

We’ve all been there —boxed in between a rock and a wet place.

And it’s here that God gives Moses one of the most unexpected commands in all of Scripture.

“Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the people to move forward.” (Exodus 14:15)

Move forward? Into the water?

Yes. Because God doesn’t always part the sea in advance. Sometimes He waits for your feet to move.

That’s the hard part of faith —it feels backward. You want clarity before commitment. A miracle before motion. But the God of the Red Sea seems to prefer the opposite.

We fly fishers know something about this.

Sometimes the best water lies just out of reach, across the current. You can see the seam, the soft eddy where the fish are rising —but to reach it, you’ve got to wade in. The water’s cold, the rocks slick, and everything inside you screams, “Wait! You’re not ready!”

But the fish don’t wait. And neither does God’s calling.

Faith steps in, even when the water hasn’t moved.

Moses had every reason to stall. The people were terrified, the enemy was gaining ground, and the future looked like a dead end. But he did the only thing he could: He lifted his staff.

And the water moved.

“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back… and turned it into dry land.” (Exodus 14:21)

Let’s pause there —all that night.

This wasn’t instant.

The wind blew through the darkness. The sea didn’t split with a snap —it peeled back slowly, steadily, while everyone stood and waited. Wind howling. Sand shifting. Fear rising.

That’s how obedience works sometimes. The breakthrough doesn’t come all at once. The miracle might start in the dark, long before the sun rises.

But in the morning… dry ground.

A path no one saw coming.

And the very water that once looked like death became the doorway to freedom.

That’s the nature of rivers and promises: the way is often hidden until you step toward it.

Fly fishing teaches us the same. The river doesn’t give up its secrets to the hesitant. You’ve got to trust your drift, cast into the unknown, and believe that something unseen is watching from the depths. It’s not about controlling the outcome —t’s about moving in obedience.

And don’t miss this —God didn’t just part the water. He closed it, too.

Once His people were through, the sea crashed back over the enemy. The threat was swallowed. The past could no longer chase them. They were free.

So, when you find yourself standing at the water’s edge surrounded by doubt, fear, and no visible path remember this:

The Red Sea only parts for the ones who step in.

It’s not about being ready. It’s about being willing.

Lift your rod.

Move your feet.

Step forward.

Because the river doesn’t part until you do.