But it’s 3:45 am. And after waking up with my sick first born, I find myself unable to fall back asleep. This is partially due to sciatic nerve pain (8 months preggo); but mostly it’s because of our blasted septic tank. Well, the implosion of several major components of our new home, really. And as I look at growing bills with the coming of this blessing of a little boy in 5 weeks, I find it hard to turn my mind off. Somewhere between the circling for solutions, my mind pauses on this house on Rivercliff Drive. The house we moved into 4 months ago. The house for which we prayed, and prayed, and PRAYED. The house that was so clearly put before us by the God who Provides in such distinct ways.
And I grumbled. Not audibly (‘cause Prasad’s asleep and will be waking up in 2 hours to head to work), but in my heart. “Did You really lead us here, only to let the walls cave in on us? Is this some giant test of endurance? Patience? Faith? Honestly, I’m afraid. Afraid of what’s to come and afraid of being abandoned here!”
My mind flashed back to millions of Israelites standing on the shore of the Red Sea. Only days before, God had mightily, and I mean MIGHTILY, heard their cries for deliverance and led them miraculously, safely, out of the cruel hands of the Egyptians. He had already begun to lead them as a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. And do you know where He led them? Right to that Sea. To Moses, He said:
“They (the Israelites) are to encamp by the sea... Pharaoh will think ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for Myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” (Exodus 14:2-4)
So it comes as no surprise that this is exactly what happens. The Israelites are standing by this massive body of water, looking over their shoulders to an impending Egyptian army that’s hot on their tails. And all they see is death. Their own, to be specific. They cry out to Moses,
“Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
And then Moses said to these fearful ones, who were crying out in disbelief and terror:
“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Wow.
And because you have very likely sat through another person’s 15 minute Sunday School lesson on the matter, you’ve heard the end of this story. God does exactly as He said He would do. He parts the waters of the Red Sea, an IMPOSSIBILITY otherwise, and delivers His people safely across to the other side. And as the final Israelite crosses safely over, those great walls of water come crashing down on every last Egyptian soldier. And for what reason? To make HIS Glory known, both to His people as well as the Egyptians.
“And when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in Him and in Moses His servant.”
Neither the Red Sea or the Egyptian army were a match for the Glory of the Great Deliverer. And while it is true that we may not have been promised the specifics of our “deliverances” in the temporal sense, we do know that our ultimate deliverance is coming! This world is not our home. And in the meantime, we have one opportunity after another to experience His Great Hand administering the impossible, whether He delivers freedom from the trial or Peace while under it... not only to build up our own faith, but so that others can see it and give Him the Glory He’s due.
I need only “Be still.”
