“The Lord has brought me from a mighty long way,” we sang together at the Gates Institute in Galveston. Is that your story? This was Israel’s story. From Ur to the promised land to Egypt and through the Red Sea, God never left his people.
What do you do when you find yourself between a rock and a hard place? Israel had the Red Sea on one side and Pharaoh’s army on the other. There was no way out, but God gave them a way through. When God wants to do a great miracle he uses an impossible situation. Moses told the people to trust God (14:13), then the Lord told Moses to move on and part the waters. A new song captures this for me, “I don’t know how You will make a way, but I know you will.”
Years ago I heard a sermon by Randall O’Brien. He told about his daughter and a life-threatening illness she faced. When all seemed lost, they prayed and God led them through “the waters of woe.” Like the Emu and the Kangaroo he created, our God does not work in reverse. He goes forward. Let’s go with him, believing he can take us safely to the other side.
People who trust God see him do things they never thought could happen. If the God we serve never surprises us, we are serving the wrong one. C. S. Lewis was surprised by joy, and N. T. Wright was surprised by hope. Israel was surprised by dry ground through the Red Sea. It’s our turn. Watch God. Be astonished and amazed. He is good. All the time!
