The "Abandoned" Savior

Reading through the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, I am struck once again by some of the seven sayings of Jesus on the cross. Two in particular seem

Taking off the Veil

Spiritual vision involves seeing the way God sees, not the way we humans see (1 Sam. 16:7).  I know several people with

God With Us: reflections on the Chilean mine rescue

I didn't write this but wish I had.  You can see or listen to it online, or get the script here:

http://www.gci.org/spol/220Godwithus 

Thanks to God for his deliverance through Jesus Christ!

God's Faithful Deliverance

I just noticed a parallel, brought out to me by a commentary, on two passages in the Book of Moses:
Gen. 8:1, 14 -- and God remembered Noah...and sent a wind...and the waters receded...and the ground was dry.
Ex. 2:24 -- and God remembered His covenant... 14:21 and sent a strong east wind and drove back the sea... 14:22 and the Israelites went through on dry ground.

In both stories, God "remembered" and "sent a wind" and the waters were pushed back and "dry ground" appeared for the people to walk on. Now, isn't that interesting...the same sequence (even though, in Exodus it's separated in time) of remembering -- taking note of and deciding it's time to act -- sending a wind, and the dry ground appearing for the people to walk on.

There are other places where God "remembers" or takes special note of something, and then takes action, sometimes an action that requires time and a sequence to complete; for instance, Gen. 30:22, where God 'remembered' Rachel, took note of her need and acted.

But in these two cases, the sequence includes a drying wind. Now, for Israel on the seashore, the strong wind was probably unpleasant -- the sand getting in their eyes, and perhaps in their food. Noah and the family may have had a bit of a rougher ride once that wind started. (I wonder if seasick elephants throw up?) But the wind came as an agent of God, and the good result came later. In both cases, He used the wind instead of just waving His hand or something.

Just a thought -- if a dry wind of distress or pain is blowing in your life right now, it could be in preparation for a greater miracle. If God has taken away something, perhaps it's so He can give you something else. That's how it's happened in my life, a dozen times that I can think of. As James 1:2-4 says, about trials:
"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way."

May God give you the strength and patience, from His store of grace, to ride out the wind of pain or loss or worry, whatever you're going through, so His greater miracle can become evident in you. And may you walk free, on dry ground.

On the Shore of the Red Sea

Exodus is a very cool book: full of stories of God's power, his peoples' inability to understand him even though he made it plain, and some 'excellent adventures' to borrow the title of a slapstick movie. Plagues, miracles and wonders, new kinds of food, burning mountains, the whole panorama of the new and unusual.

One story that always gets me is what I call "Standoff at the Red Sea" in chapters 13 and 14. First, God puts the Israelites into what my military friends would call an indefensible position, stuck on a little stretch of beach between the mountains and the sea. The whole Egyptian army, out for revenge for all those plagues, is boiling down on top of them. The Israelites, of course, blame Moses for the whole thing (starting with, "I can't keep my campfire lit next to the ocean!") and he spends some time complaining to the LORD about them.

The LORD comes back with something nobody would have predicted: he opens up the Red Sea for them. They stand there gawping for awhile, then because the Cloud moves into and through this new channel, they go across too. Probably shaking in their sandals the whole way and stopping the kids from picking up seashells. Then, just to sew it all up into a nice package, the LORD lets the waters come back over the Egyptian army; that'll show 'em!

I've sat in that spot, between the mountains and the sea with something or other coming at me like a Mack truck, more times in my life than I can remember. It's almost gotten to the point of being routine, except the circumstances keep changing. And, yes, I spend my time complaining to God about it. And inevitably, something happens that I didn't know was out there and couldn't have engineered to save my life (which is sometimes the point!).

Sooner or later, we all face illness, job loss, death of a loved one, financial problems, housing problems, or a thousand other problems we can't solve. Thing is, the same LORD who knew what the Israelites were facing also knows what you're up to. He is just as faithful to deliver you as he was to deliver them. And he is just as capable at parting your Red Sea as he was theirs. Now, the solution may be just as hard to step into as theirs was, but you can usually tell it's from him because nobody else could have done it. It may not be the solution you'd have chosen, but it will fit his plans to a T.

And when you step forward into his solution, whatever it is, he may show you a really pretty shell to keep, just to remind you that he loves you.