A New Path

 

I really admire people who can look at something, and see something new that isn’t there. I don’t mean like hallucinating or anything, but like to have a vision of what something new could be. At the churches where I serve we have a combined Sunday morning service outdoors right now, under a pavilion on a hill. Our outdoor worship presented the need for some steps to be installed to make getting up the hill easier. I didn’t come up with the idea to have stairs put in, I didn’t envision what that could look like, or what the math would be to ensure it would work. Some other church members did that. They looked at an obstacle that was preventing people from getting from one place, the parking lot, to the place where they needed to be, to worship. And so a new path was created, where there was no path before.

That’s at the heart of the familiar story of the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:19-31), where a new path was made for people to get them from where they were, to where they needed to be, because there was an obstacle in their way. It is a familiar story to many of you, immortalized in Hollywood film by Yule Brenner as Pharaoh and Charlten Heston as Moses, who stretched out his hands and the huge walls of water parted on either side. It is an amazing picture to try to visualize. And yet, the idea that God is making a new way for His people where there was no way for them before, is very practical to how God has been doing things all along, and I believe, continues to do things as well, even for us today.

Exodus 14:19 says, “Then the angel of God, withdrew and went behind them, the pillar of cloud also moved and went and stood behind them.”

God had led His people out of captivity, leading them by a cloud during the day, and by a pillar of fire at night. God was their GPS (God Positioning System) because they didn’t know the way to go. But God was also allowing fire and cloud to be a visible sign of His presence. He was with them. And they could see that. And that is how God led his people when they first came out of captivity because that is what they needed, they needed to get on the right path, head in the right direction.

But now there is an Egyptian army with horses and chariots coming up behind them, and there is a body of water in front of them, and at this crucial moment, God moves from in front of them, where they can see his presence, where they know he is there, to behind them.

God had promised deliverance for these people, they had gotten their hopes up, they expected something better, and now here they are in an even worse predicament than when they left.

Do they drown in what is in front of them, or do they die because of what is chasing them?

Have you ever gotten your hopes up and just knew that God had provided something for you, maybe something you didn’t even really expect to happen but you have those other prayer warriors who have been praying for you, and now it happens; the prayer seems to be answered, things are finally looking up, you let yourself get excited, and then the door just seems to slam shut. And you’re thinking “well, I would have been better off if I never even tried this.” OR “that’s why I never get my hopes up in the first place, something always happens to crush it.”

That’s probably how these Hebrew people felt too. And to make it worse, God moved.

If we’re supposed to follow, how can we do that if God is not in front of us?

They needed a miracle. But see I think everybody needs a miracle, but nobody wants to be in the mess that necessitates one.

But notice God moved out of the way because this is the time that the people of God need to show their faith in God and keep on moving. God brought them to this and He will bring them through this (LITERALLY), but they got to take some steps on their own.  And notice that God didn’t just move behind them because He’s playing Divine Peek-a-Boo.

 

Verse 20 says that God moved behind them “to come between the armies of Egypt and Israel.”

God was giving them a breather. This is a big obstacle in front of them, and they need a minute. So God in his mercy, got behind them to block them from the enemy that was attacking them so that he could show his power over the obstacle that was in front of them.

Maybe sometimes God has moved behind you to protect you from something that was coming up behind you that you didn’t even know it was there. OR maybe God has moved behind you because he has already showed you the way to go, you know where you need to head, you see the obstacle in front of you, but you need a little breather before you head into it…or maybe you need a little time for God to do something else amazing.

Because that’s what happens at the Red Sea. And perhaps that is what is happening at your Red Sea today as well. Be patient. Be still. Wait expectantly. Watch in amazement. Be faithful in prayer. And then be ready to move when the waters part.

The Certainty of not knowing

 

            “I don’t know.”

                I have gotten pretty good at saying these words lately. It seems like these words can answer most questions that I get asked, especially regarding things pandemic-related. Months ago I was trying to make educated guesses on a time-line of events when I was asked questions, but now I am simply resigned to saying “I don’t know.” And being the calendar-driven planner that I am, this is has been an adjustment. As of this moment, as I am writing this, the churches I serve plan to be meeting Sunday morning for an outdoor worship service at 10:30AM. Will that change? I don’t know. When will be back inside our building for worship? I don’t know.

                One good thing from all my “I don’t know’s” is that God does know. And I’ve known that all along, but lately that has become a deeper truth for me.

                Matthew chapter 16 ends with Jesus’ predicting His death. He is letting His disciples know that they will be travelling to Jerusalem together, and that He “suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed” (Matthew 16:21).

                No one wants to hear that there is suffering on the road ahead, and the disciples were no different. I am sure that they all thought the same thing, but it was Peter who vocally objected.

                “Never, Lord!” Peter said, “This will not happen to you!”

                Sometimes I think I more than I do (don’t tell me wife). And sometimes I realize how little that I really do know. Peter thought that he knew better than Jesus, he thought he had a better way. And the reason for this, I think, was that Peter was trying to avoid the suffering that Jesus said that He would encounter in Jerusalem. Peter loved Jesus, and I don’t think that he wanted Jesus to suffer, but I also don’t think that Peter wanted to suffer either, and apparently heading to the city with Jesus would mean suffering for them all.

                And that’s natural. None of us want to suffer. The issue is that as Peter focused on the pain, he was missing the promise.

                Jesus didn’t just say that they would be heading into Jerusalem to suffer and that He would die. He did say that, and that’s probably where Peter stopped listening. Sometimes when we hear something that we don’t want to, or something that we don’t agree with we stop listening, and in so doing we miss the really important part that comes next.

                Peter missed a really important part. Jesus wasn’t just predicting His death, He was also predicting His resurrection!

                “And on the third day be raised to life.” (Matthew 16:21b)

                And so Peter rebuked, which means to correct strongly, Jesus because he didn’t hear the whole thing. He stopped listening because what he heard didn’t sound like what he thought it should. He had just made a big confession of faith as Jesus as the Messiah, the “Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:13-20), and now Jesus was saying that He would die? Peter thought he knew the answer to how things were going to work out, and this wasn’t it.

                Thankfully for all of us, Jesus wasn’t deterred by Peter. This was one prayer request that I am glad God didn’t answer. Jesus heading to Jerusalem and His death on the cross would bring forgiveness for the sins of all the world, and His resurrection on the third day would bring life to all the world in his name!

                Sometimes we don’t have all the answers. Sometimes life is uncertain. Jesus tried explaining to His disciples exactly what was going to happen to them, and they didn’t want to hear it. I think we would probably be the same if we knew everything. So, thankfully we don’t. And that’s OK, because Jesus does.

                Will we experience more suffering in this life, even this year? Probably. But I don’t know for sure. What I do know that is that when we focus on the pain, we miss the problem. And the promise is that God is with us. No matter what the future holds. And that is all the certainty I really need.