I was reading from the book of Exodus this morning in my devotional time and once again I was struck by this well-known story of God’s miraculous intervention. He freed the Israelites from slavery and parted the Red Sea so they could walk across on dry ground.
While they were hemmed in by the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptian army bearing down on them from behind, the people were terrified, cried out to God, then angrily confronted Moses telling him they would have preferred to have remained as slaves rather than to be killed now in the desert.
Moses answered them, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm … The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (13:14)
Wow! Those are the words I so often would like to hear during my times of confusion and desperation.
“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.” (14:31)
But, unfortunately, that fear of God and trust in Him would be short-lived.
They (and I) want a miracle every day–perhaps every hour–to keep us fearing and believing. If God can miraculously intervene with that intensity, why doesn’t He do it all the time? Why does He so often “appear” to remain silent, “appear” to leave me “high and dry,” and “appear” to leave me to figure it out on my own? (I imagine, in the wake of Hurricane Ida, some of our fellow believers in New Orleans are wondering this right now.)
But He is God and I am not. With crystal clear vision, He sees everything through the lens of eternity. My “eternity lens” is usually heavily smudged and blurry.
If I remember this, I can rest in Him and can continue to believe and fear God even in the difficult times in my life.