It’s tempting to look to the past. Simpler times, it seems. Pre-pandemic days when life was “normal”.
When God delivered the Israelites from Egypt – a land of oppression and slavery, they fled in haste. It probably wasn’t as organized or well-planned as they would’ve liked, and many of them were not used to traveling. They were probably a little uncomfortable, though glad to leave anyway.
Then they came to the Red Sea. An impossible situation. They were stuck between an impassable body of water and a furious dictator.
But God had a plan!
He had just shown Himself through the plagues. But now He was going to do a new thing. He parted the water, miraculously dried the ground so His people could cross, then released the water back onto the enemy.
God delivered His people AGAIN, but in a different, unexpected way.
As their journey continued, they were repeatedly faced with discomfort and undesirable situations. They were quick to complain, even expressing a desire to go back to Egypt, to days of old, to what they knew before. This new situation was too hard.
Each time they complained, God mercifully blessed them with a new thing…
- a new kind of food (manna),
- a new kind of guidance (a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire),
- a new source of water (a rock).
Are things hard right now? Yes.
But let’s not long for Egypt.
Let’s trust that God has a plan and that it is good because HE is good. Let’s believe that He is doing a new thing and that, eventually, we’ll see His masterful orchestration in all the impossible situations and praise Him for His mercy and faithfulness.
