“Your road led through the sea, Your pathway through the mighty waters – a pathway no one knew was there.” (Psalm 77:19)
Have you ever actually stopped to consider the scene? It’s mind-boggling!
The four hundred or so members of Jacob’s family ended up, through an amazing set of circumstances, in Egypt. Times were good – great, in fact. Joseph was in charge. No one in the entire country, except Pharaoh himself, had more power than this exiled former slave. This ex-shepherd. This ex-houseboy. This ex-inmate.
This man of God!
But now, all these years later, that tiny band has grown and, by God’s mighty power displayed through His servant Moses, has escaped from Egypt. That safe haven of the time of Joseph had turned cruel and harsh. God heard. God cared. God provided the way.
So consider the scene: this over-sized family, that only hours before had made a joyous and triumphant exodus from the land of their captors, standing on the shore of the great sea, mountains on either side and the most fierce and feared army of the day bearing down from their rear. I imagine the singing stopped. I hear the panic in the voices of the women as they ask their husbands what’s to become of them. I recognize a familiar chorus, one that will be, unfortunately, replayed many times in the coming years, “Did God deliver us from Pharaoh only to kill us in the wilderness?”
Can you blame them? Would you have responded any differently?
Standing on the banks of this great sea, in this impossible situation, the path was not apparent to them. So, instead of trusting in the God of the plagues, the God of the Passover, they grumble, complain, lash out at both Moses and God.
Are you in a situation that cannot be affected by any exercise of your own strength, talent, resolve or wisdom? Do you really think that you are in that place by accident? Looking back over the years of your life, have you had chance after God-given chance to submit and surrender to God, only to refuse and choose to deal with your life in your way?
Well, you are on the shore with the Israelites, aren’t you?The grumbling, complaining and lashing out didn’t do any good. Only God saw the path. Only God could open and reveal it. The only thing the Israelites could do, the only thing you can do, is to stand still and trust that God knows and is capable of accomplishing what concerns you today.
Well, you know the story. The path for escape was revealed at just the right time. A miraculous path. A hidden path that only He knew was there.
Was this a surprise to God? Did all of heaven fly into a panic to create this plan in the eleventh hour?
No! God is never caught off guard or unprepared. He may not have caused your trouble, but He has a path of escape for you if you will only allow Him to reveal it to you in His time. He does this to reveal His power and His great love for us. He does this to prove to us that we can trust Him.
Did it surprise God that the Jordan was at flood stage when the Israelites arrived for the crossing? Did an unexpected deluge swell the river?
No! What a display of His power and provision. The path was hidden, but He, in His time revealed it for His glory and as a lesson to generations to follow.
God said the Kingdom of His Son would be established and would never end. Did Jesus’ arrest and trial catch God off-guard?
No! The path was hidden. It wasn’t where the disciples expected it. It did not lay in glorious conquest of this world’s powers but through a dark and lonely garden named Gethsemane. The path traversed a hill called Golgotha. The path required the removal of a huge stone – the deadend of the rough-hewn tomb became the pathway to the Kingdom of God.
Are you trapped by your circumstances? Does it seem there’s no way out?
Well, there is! There is “a pathway no one knew was there.” Trust your Lord and in His time the path will become more than apparent.
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