Have you ever experienced rereading a well known passage in Scripture (almost with boredom because you know it so well) when, suddenly, words hit you differently? Nothing’s new. Nothing’s changed. God just shined His light on His Word touching your heart in a whole new way.
That just happened to me. God used some “old” verses to show me something I’ve done as a mom whose son has had serious health problems. I wonder if you’ve done it too.
Anyway, I was reading Exodus 14 in my New International Version when I got to this part: “Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.’ Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on,’” (Exodus 14:13-15). The Israelites had been freed from Egypt, but, now, Pharaoh was in hot pursuit. Seeing the Egyptian army thundering towards them and knowing the Red Sea was at their back, Moses did something I never noticed before. He decided he knew God’s plan and delivered that plan in a very brave speech. It was a great speech, except that it wasn’t God’s plan. God had something bigger than Moses could imagine. So He told him to stop talking and follow His directions.
Later, as I shared this new insight with my husband, God’s Word really hit me. I said to Randy, “That’s exactly what we do! We’re in a crisis, our backs are to the wall, and we think we know exactly what God is going to do. (Long pause.) Oh, that’s what we did. We thought we knew how God had to heal Seth’s heart.” There was only one way that we could see. God, forgive me and my little mind for thinking I knew what You needed to do! We couldn’t imagine God so clearly taking over the surgery in such a powerful way, revealing Himself. Moses couldn’t have dreamt God would part the Red Sea giving them dry land to cross on. Yet, He did both.
He had told Moses in verse 4, “‘And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.’ So the Israelites did this,” (Exodus 14:4, NIV). I confess that as I read those words I thought, “But what does that mean for the Israelites? There’s no promise of a good outcome for them!” At the same time, I realized, I was really asking, “What about us? What does that mean You’ll do for us?” In our situation, it was as if God told us, “I will gain glory for myself through the doctors and their staff, and they will all know that I am the LORD.” As a mom, afraid for my child, those words would not have brought me comfort before heart surgery. No, I wanted to hear, “I will heal your son. He won’t need surgery, and I’ll be glorified.” Me first, God. It wasn’t until after Seth’s surgery that I could see Him glorified and how He had also taken care of Seth, giving him health we’d never imagined possible, in a way that humbled us with the honor of receiving His miracle.
Dear One, is your back against a wall right now? Are you panicked over the events you believe are about to unfold? Have you decided the one thing that God has to do to make everything OK? Does hearing “this is for My glory” hit you in the gut, like it did me, and make you shout, “But what about me? What about my child? What’s going to happen to us?”
I believe that panicking and worry are very human. In fact, I’ve come to understand that it’s only by the grace of God if we don’t panic when we face danger, or feel fear for our child, or are able to trust Him completely. (I’m not saying you don’t have God’s grace if you feel those things. I am saying only He can produce real peace in us, and that comes through a process that He takes us all through.) The good news is that God understands. He gave us those emotions. We also learn something very precious from this little interaction between Moses, God, and, indirectly, the Israelites. God can handle our emotions. (Need more proof? Keep reading through Exodus.) He can override our plans and do things our minds can’t even imagine. We can’t begin to understand all that God can do because our minds are limited and He is the God of no limits. We strive to figure out what God needs to do. It makes us feel better if we know the plan. The truth is we struggle to understand much of “reality”, don’t we? (I don’t think my mind will ever grasp how exactly a computer works!) How can we ever figure out a God who knows no limits and completely understands how everything works because He made it all? God’s reality is much different than ours. He does things like part the Red Sea and grow tiny parts of hearts that “couldn’t grow” according to man.
Dear One, hold on to God. Stay by His side and know in your heart that He has it all figured out. Let Him take over the reigns and show you His reality.
In His Love,
Kimberly
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