Where He Leads I Will Follow: Where Angels Fear to Tread

 

Moses stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the LORD drove the sea apart by a strong east wind all that night, and he made the sea into dry land, and the water was divided. Exodus 14:21

 In this world we will have trouble (John 16:33), but God is with us, He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6-8). When we encounter trouble or temptation, God will remain faithful, and He will make a way out so that we will be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

 In today’s passage (Exodus 14:13-22), Israel has encountered a terribly difficult situation. They’ve been hemmed in with the Red Sea on one side of them and the Egyptian army bearing down on them on the other. It seems like they’re done for, like there isn’t any hope to be had. But. God. Before God had shown Moses how He would protect the Israelites, Moses encouraged them, saying, “Do not fear! Stand firm and see the salvation of the LORD that he will provide for you today; for the Egyptians that you see today you will never, ever see again.” He didn’t know how, but he trusted that the God who had done all the miracles and had brought all the plagues on Egypt was not going to let them down now! And sure enough, just after this, God instructed Moses to stretch out his hand toward the sea and God would divide it and let them cross on dry land. Now, obviously, this isn’t something that had been done before. Moses and the Israelites had no precedence by which to expect this or understand it for that matter. What they did have, though, was desperation. They didn’t have a lot of choices at the moment. It was head into the sea or be slaughtered by the Egyptian army. But whether they obeyed because they felt like they had no choice or because they fully believed God and His command, the result is the same, they were saved.

 If you have an active imagination, like me, though, you can picture that this scenario must have been awfully frightening. While it’s not 100% biblically accurate, I think this scene from the 1998 movie “The Prince of Egypt” depicts some of the very likely scary parts of this experience:

 Could God have just wiped out the Egyptian army with His hand and teleported the Israelites over to the other side? Sure, He could have! But His way was so much better and gave them so much more. You see, with God’s plan, the Israelites had to obey Him in order to receive their deliverance. He placed it before them, a path through the Red Sea on dry land, but it wasn’t a safe-looking or easy path. I think one of those rickety rope-style suspension bridges may have felt more certain! Here’s a dark path, through dark water, with who knows what on either side of you. Only God knew how long He would hold the water back. Each and every one of those Israelites knew they were sinners and deserved to be swallowed up by the sea, so entering into it would be pretty frightening, especially since odds are they couldn’t swim. But by doing it, by doing the scary thing, they were able to more clearly witness God’s hand of protection on them and His perfect provision for them. They also had to make the choice to do the hard thing God was asking of them, so that they could witness this. Coming out on the other side, seeing the Egyptian army demolished, created a testimony that has lasted thousands of years.

 I feel like I’m in the middle of my own Red Sea. Today marked the halfway point of my radiation therapy for a brain tumor. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that this was the “Sea” that God has brought me to. He made His path absolutely clear, and His fingerprints are all over it.  That doesn’t mean it isn’t dark and scary and full of unknown horrors on every side. Yes, I know God has called me to go through this trial, and I know He is with me all the way, but that doesn’t make it easy. The fatigue, or somnolence, the nausea, the 5am drive to the city through traffic every morning, and all the other bits that come along with it are hard. I think that’s what’s shaping me though. Just as a river tumbles rocks over and over one another, crashing them against each other and chipping off the rough bits to create these beautiful, smooth stones, this trial is shaping me, helping me to grow closer to the person that God has designed me to be, the person I long to become.

 Another aspect of this story occurred to me today. In the beginning of Moses’ story in Exodus 2, Moses was delivered from the hand of Pharoah through water, by being set adrift in a basket on the river. Here, once again, Moses and all of his people are being saved through water. God doesn’t do anything by accident, so I’ve got to believe that this had a purpose. 1 Corinthians 10:1–2 tells us that this crossing was a form of baptism for Moses and the Israelites, their crossing from slavery to freedom, just as we die to sin in baptism and are raised to new life. I love the symmetry, the poetry of God delivering Moses first as an infant and now as an adult through water!

Here’s the Thing: Just because it’s the right thing, the thing God tells you to do, doesn’t make it easy. But it DOES make it worth it. Knowing He will be with you always makes the hard things doable. Trust Him.