When caught between the devil and the deep Red Sea, it is easy to be overwhelmed. What do we do in such cases? And how do we wrap our heads around the reality of what’s before us? Perhaps we can find hope in Today’s Holy Nougat.
Exodus 14:13-14 CEB
[13] But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand your ground, and watch the LORD rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never ever see again.
[14] The LORD will fight for you. You just keep still.”
Never to be Seen Again
They couldn’t figure their way out. It had been four hundred years of abuse and enslavement, with no way out. They had probably accepted violence as normative. And, with God’s seeming inattentiveness, they probably believed that pharaoh was the force to be reckoned with.
Self-Check
Are there forces that seem to be more overwhelming than our expectations for God’s intervention? How do we respond?
Deeper Dive
The Children of Israel were expected to trust that God would not only fight for them but that the Egyptians would no longer harass them. And, in turn, all they had to do was nothing. Yes, they needed to be still and hold their peace (not worry).
A decision needed to be made ASAP. With pharaoh and his riders behind them, they were confident that death was their fate. It was in that context that God assured them that this was the final straw. The Egyptians would no longer be a threat to their existence.
Please note with me that God did not say the entire nation of Egypt would be obliterated. Rather, God said that those Egyptians chasing them would be seen no longer. There was the assurance that that particular problem would be sorted. They did face other problems, but not with the Egyptians.
Siblings, this assures us that however overwhelming, however long, however oppressive our problems may be, God can say to us, ‘never again’. That never again may occur after what feels like four hundred years. That issue might even be generational, as it was with the Children of Israel (for, if a generation was forty years, then it was roughly 100 generations of enslaved people). Regardless, we could be the generation of Never Again.
Perhaps we might begin to rekindle our hope, asking God to save us from those who ‘despitefully’ use us (see Matthew 5, which assures us that that’s a blessing). Perhaps it is that we need to hand control back to God, who remains in control. Regardless … it’s time to be still as we discern God’s plan in our situation.
Point to Ponder
Have we discerned which are those Egyptians we face today that we’d like God to remove? Let’s afford God the opportunity to show us ‘Never Again’.
—
May all we seek be found in Christ
