We'll See

And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.
Exodus 14:13 NKJV

How many times a day do you suppose a child will ask for something? And if you take them to a store of any kind, you know that number will at least triple, right? When my kids were little, they learned early on that when I said, "No" it was exactly what I meant. So, you can imagine my surprise when my then three-year-old son said to me one day after I'd said no, "Don't say 'no', Mama. Say 'we'll see'." He had realized that "we'll see" meant there was a possibility that it might eventually be a 'yes'.

I was reminded of that childhood episode when listening again to the passage of Moses and the children of Israel being caught between the armies of Pharaoh and the Red Sea. How often do we find ourselves in situations where there seems to be no way out? Have we enough faith to stand still and see what God will do? Do we know for sure? We say we have faith, but do we relegate God to the same level of "we'll see" - that maybe He will, maybe He won't?

We know how the chapter ends, But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, as the water stood up like a wall on both sides. That is how the Lord rescued Israel from the hand of the Egyptians that day. And the Israelites saw the bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the seashore. Exodus 14:29,30 NLT. Their enemies were thoroughly defeated. They were able to see past the probability of death to SEE the salvation of the Lord, as Moses had declared. 

Lends a whole new definite meaning to "We'll see", doesn't it?

Prayer:

Father,
           Sometimes it feels as though we're facing the Red Sea and are surrounded by the enemy. Today, we stand and declare Your Word from Psalm 27, We are confident we will see the Lord’s goodness while we are here in the land of the living. We will wait patiently for You, Lord. We will be brave and courageous. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

History Repeats Itself

Like our ancestors, we have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!

Psalm 106:6 The Message

I was reading in Psalms tonight. Something I read cross-referenced to Psalm 106. It is both frightening and reassuring at the same time to read the history of Israel's faults and failures, especially when it so readily translates to 21st Century behaviors...

Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord? Who can ever praise him enough? There is joy for those who deal justly with others and always do what is right.

Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people; come near and rescue me. Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones. Let me rejoice in the joy of your people; let me praise you with those who are your heritage.

Like our ancestors, we have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly! Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the Lord’s miraculous deeds. They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea. Even so, he saved them— to defend the honor of his name and to demonstrate his mighty power. He commanded the Red Sea to dry up. He led Israel across the sea as if it were a desert. So he rescued them from their enemies and redeemed them from their foes. Then the water returned and covered their enemies; not one of them survived. Then his people believed his promises. Then they sang his praise.

Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done! They wouldn’t wait for his counsel! In the wilderness their desires ran wild, testing God’s patience in that dry wasteland. So he gave them what they asked for, but he sent a plague along with it. The people in the camp were jealous of Moses and envious of Aaron, the Lord’s holy priest. Because of this, the earth opened up; it swallowed Dathan and buried Abiram and the other rebels. Fire fell upon their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.

The people made a calf at Mount Sinai; they bowed before an image made of gold. They traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull. They forgot God, their savior, who had done such great things in Egypt— such wonderful things in the land of Ham, such awesome deeds at the Red Sea. So he declared he would destroy them. But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the Lord and the people. He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them.

The people refused to enter the pleasant land, for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them. Instead, they grumbled in their tents and refused to obey the Lord. Therefore, he solemnly swore that he would kill them in the wilderness, that he would scatter their descendants among the nations,  exiling them to distant lands.

Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor; they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead!
They angered the Lord with all these things, so a plague broke out among them. But Phinehas had the courage to intervene, and the plague was stopped. So he has been regarded as a righteous man ever since that time.

At Meribah, too, they angered the Lord, causing Moses serious trouble. They made Moses angry, and he spoke foolishly.

Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the Lord had commanded them. Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs. They worshiped their idols, which led to their downfall. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with murder. They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight.

That is why the Lord’s anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his own special possession. He handed them over to pagan nations, and they were ruled by those who hated them. Their enemies crushed them and brought them under their cruel power.  Again and again he rescued them, but they chose to rebel against him, and they were finally destroyed by their sin. Even so, he pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries. He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his unfailing love. He even caused their captors to treat them with kindness.

Save us, O Lord our God! Gather us back from among the nations,  so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you.

Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting! Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord!

In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

*Nothing More, Nothing Less

Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the instructions and regulations the Lord had given him. All the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.”
Exodus 24:3 NLT

They'd been freed from the slavery of Egypt. They'd been rescued from their enemies at the Red Sea. They'd been saved from hunger by food that fell from Heaven, and from dying of thirst by water pouring out of a rock. They were kept warm by fire at night and shaded from the desert sun with the cloud by day. God was making EVERY provision for them, despite their whining and complaining...

Finally, FINALLY, they respond in one voice, "We will do everything the Lord has commanded." Music to God's ears, I'm sure. Moses carefully writes it all down and reads it to them the very next morning and they respond the same way, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.”

Then God tells Moses to come on up so He can give Moses the explicit instructions about His plan and how it's to be done. And in about a month and a half - 47 days - the people forget all about their escape from Egypt, and walking through the Red Sea on dry land, and the Book of the Covenant and their response; “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.” They want something hands-on to satisfy their immediate desires and Moses' brother, Aaron, their spiritual leader, goes along with THEIR plan, and then tries to combine their idol worship with a festival to the Lord. Unbelievable... or is it?

God provides for us on a daily basis. And it's all well and good while we're seeing His active intervention in our lives, but what about when we are waiting for an answer or an instruction for what to do next? His Word instructs us to wait, to listen and to obey. Do we? Or do we go with what WE think will work and then try to incorporate that (our will) into what should be His worship, His way? Unbelievable... or is it? If we stop looking at what we can't do, what we don't have, we might be able to see what we CAN do through Christ, and what we DO have because of God's hand of provision.

God's instructions are for our good. We each have a part. He hasn't asked me to do your part - or you to do my part, but He does expect us to do everything He has commanded us. Nothing more. NOTHING less.

Prayer:

Father,
          Your Word says You give power to the weak and strength to the powerless. It also assures us that we can be confident that we will see the Lord’s goodness while we are here in the land of the living. Help us to wait patiently for You, Lord. Cause us to be brave and courageous, so we may do all that You have commanded us. Nothing more. NOTHING less. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* Nothing I Can Do

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”
Exodus 13:17 NIV

When I travel, I look at all the routes. I want the quickest one with the least amount of hindrances along the way. When I fly, I want non-stop. And I know I'm not the only one. However, even the best-laid travel plans don't always work out the way we expect. Sometimes there's a detour; sometimes a traffic jam. Or in this case for the Israelites, the Red Sea.

If God had given me the choice on which route to take - whether I would want to fight or cross a body of water - I'd go for the fight every time. I can't help but think that some of the Israelites were already wondering why they didn't just go through the country. It's not like God didn't know where the sea was.

If I put myself in their place - I've got my family and my livestock and I'm facing the Red Sea with the Egyptian army in hot pursuit right behind me. In my mind, there's no way out. There is nothing I can do.

How many times in our lives have we been at a similar junction? The bills are overwhelming, the illness that no one could foresee or prevent, the circumstances over which we have no control. And we wonder, "Why?!?" We've tried to follow God. We've tried to hear His voice. And yet here we are at our own version of the Red Sea with no way out. Nothing we can do.

And that's just it. We MUST learn to trust God! To follow Him wherever He leads us, and in the process, we learn (hopefully) that HE is in control. If He's led us to this place, He already has our way out made for us and He will do it. We can't see it, but that's why it's called faith. And just like He did for the Israelites, He will use that same path to wipe out whatever is trying to keep us in bondage or destroy us.

What we CAN do is faithfully follow Him, no matter what it looks like.

Prayer:

Father,
            Thank You for being the Way Maker. Help us to lay down our own reasoning and those ways that seem right to us, and choose instead to follow the leading of Your Holy Spirit. May we ever be open to hear AND obey whatever You speak to our hearts. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen