Exodus 11:13
“Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of The Lord which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see, you shall see again no more forever.
The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace.
Lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.”
I’ve been intrigued at the number of times this story has popped up in my personal Bible study, reading and in my YouTube favourite speaker’s sermons. There is so much to be gleaned from this account. I only hope I can do some of it justice.
The crossing of the Red Sea by the Israelites is a dramatic and well-known Bible account with Pharaoh and 600 chariots in hot pursuit of their escaping enslaved workforce, The Israelites, following a series of commands from God through Moses, and subsequent plagues to convince Pharaoh of God’s intentions for the freedom of His chosen people. These people had been in captivity in Egypt for some time. The people of Israel, though oppressed, had made some semblance of family life amongst the dirt and blood and sweat of the harsh workload of Pharaoh’s voracious appetite for growth and development of his mighty empire…built on the backs of Israel’s people.
So, post plagues, and supernatural events from the hand of God to convince Pharaoh of God’s intention to have His people freed, we pick up the story of the exodus of Israel from Egypt at the edge of the Red Sea. The people were surrounded on all sides by the pursuit of the Pharaoh and his army. There was nowhere for them to go and they feared certain death. They were enslaved, beaten and worked to death but within that was a perception of certainty unlike what they were now being asked to do and face. The people were being asked to step outside of everything they knew and walk into the vast unknown, trusting God…the God many believed had abandoned them to slavery.
God made a way for them…..parting the Red Sea, “a wall of water on their right hand and on their left”. Exodus 11:22. They had, at that moment , to step out and walk between the walls of water, trusting God would deliver them.
Its 4 a.m. and I’m woken with this story. I’m in hospital, post mastectomy and I’m seeing the parallels in the Bible story to my experience.
Many of you may know, some will not, of my last year’s journey with breast cancer. I don’t wish to labour the point, suffice to say, God had led me through many Red Sea moments throughout the year…none like this current one. I had prayed diligently…fervently…passionately, for my miracle moment, certain of God’s supernatural intervention and then, as I got closer to the date of surgery and had to endure many frightening procedures and tests, I could feel my hope slipping through my fingers. Here I was, standing at the edge of my Red Sea, my enemy closing in on me.
My captivity? My breast cancer, its causal factors, I believe, my past…past beliefs, battles, betrayals and behaviours, my struggle to let go and give God control.
I had sought to control details of my treatment, having researched natural therapies and been against the narrow-minded, one size fits all medical approach and with the return of my cancer after 8 months, was forced to accept things were beyond my control this time. I have been asked to walk this path and trust God has it all under His control foregoing any semblance of knowing or understanding the why’s, how’s and wherefores. I have declared God’s promises over me, His faithfulness to hold me fast through this challenging time. I have stood at the water’s edge, nowhere behind me to run or escape.
I had to find the courage to step in and walk through the frightening valley with the threatening walls of water on either side of me. Having seen the Prince of Egypt movie, I call to mind the scene of the movement of sharks in the wall of water, like walking through the aquarium tunnel. I’m not aware there are sharks in the Red Sea but the illusion of monsters of the deep looming in wait has been part of the fear to overcome. There have been huge fear factors for me, having found this cancer in the last months of caring for my amazing mother-in-law in her end-stage breast cancer. …the visuals of that experience seared into my mind and heart have been difficult to override. I have had to anchor myself in God’s faithfulness to deliver on His promises and declare that He is my Deliverer, my Physician, my Provider and that her story and outcome is not mine.
Isaiah 45:2-3 “I have gone before you and levelled mountains, broken down doors of bronze and shattered bars of iron,” has been my mainstay promise throughout.
2 Samuel 22:33 “God is my power and strength. He makes perfect my ways”.
We are commanded throughout Scripture to not be afraid, as many as 300 plus times.1 John 4:18 states “ Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear.”
As with most of life’s challenges, our minds can be our worst enemies, creating for ourselves scenes and scenarios that keep us fearful. In the battle of my mind, I failed to realise I was actually walking on DRY ground. I have sung my way through claustrophobic scanners and lengthy tests; quoted Scripture and promises to encourage myself at times I just wanted to bolt or my emotional state of overwhelm threatened to swallow me whole.
“No, in all these things, we are more than conqueror through Him who loved us” Romans 8;37
Ive thought about that Red Sea parting …the dry ground in relation to my story. In my plea for a miracle, I had hoped for the teleportal version…the “Beam me up Scotty” miracle. I wanted desperately to be one of those who experienced that ..not to avoid the pain and discomfort….I just had a need to know God still did miracles today. I wanted to see “ a display of God’s will being done “on earth as it is in Heaven” ….the Kingdom reality in the visible realm,” is how Bill Johnson puts it in his book, “The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind”. I have family and friends who have listened and watched me tout healing and my faith in its possibility. My renewed faith began with a plea that I see and be an instrument in the reality and realisation of God’s word as alive and active in a day of such scepticism and cynicism and that God be a visible presence in my life.
It didn’t happen as I envisaged it.
I didn’t arrive unscathed on the other side of my Red Sea unmuddied and unspoiled. I had to cross the bumpy rocky sea floor with everyone else. I had to experience the miraculous protecting hand of God from a place of vulnerability…
… To be in the PET scan tunnel and know His strength and presence to overcome claustrophobia;
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage, be not frightened or dismayed, For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. “Joshua 1:9
…To be singing songs of praise and victory in Nuclear medicine while being injected with radioisotopes.
“Way maker, Miracle worker, Promisekeeper, Light in the darkness…my God that is who you are.” Michael W Smith’s song.
To be wheeled into theatre still declaring God’s favour and protection over me in my moment of absolute weakness.
“Be Still and know that I am God “ Psalm 46:10 and singing in my head Tasha Cobb’s song, “Fill me up, God..till I overflow”.
I’ve arrived on the other side a bit bruised and battered, tearful and questioning…but not beaten. I spent a quiet day grieving …the loss of my breast…what felt like my failed faith, wondering how I’d managed to misunderstand so profoundly what I’d believed to be His promise to me… or had I misinterpreted His Word to fit my agenda? Had I not exhibited sufficient faith?
Emotionally spent and feeling defeated, I have gone back to His Word to find the answers…back to pray for understanding and wisdom and insight and to be reminded.
And reminded I was….
- Romans 15:13 “I pray that God, the Source of Hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him…then….you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit”.
- Philippians 4:4 “Always be full of joy and rejoice
Don’t worry about anything
Tell God what you need
Thank Him for all He’s done
THEN…..
You will receive God’s peace which exceeds anything we can understand.”
THEN! ….Hmmmm….THEN!
So, even when I’m afraid, emotional, feeling defeated and disillusioned, confused or shaken, ill-equipped…I’m told to:
- Trust Him…. which then gives me peace, joy, confident hope and power, thanking Him
- Be joyful, thankful, unworried…which then leads to my receiving God’s peace.
- Ask for my needs and expect them to be met
What lessons do I take away with this experience?
I don’t know what anything means.
I do not know nor can I predict the thoughts and ways of God..
Giving it over to God means not trying to impose or implant my vision of who God is or what He should be doing in any and every situation.
Its not about what I can do to impress, impart or improve on God’s plan but just to walk humbly in it….with no foresight, just one step at a time faith, believing He will provide ALL my needs , my next step, my strength and courage, my opportunities, my healing, my growth.
The message then?
“Yet will I praise the Lord.” Keep trusting Him, thanking Him in this moment for His protection, blessings, “still to come” fulfilment of His promises, the surrounding me with wonderful people, the skill of the doctor and anaesthetist and friends and family who love, support and encourage me.
I’m still waiting on the closure but God has brought me through. I’m celebrating in advance the crashing of the waves behind me to signal the destruction of the evil set to destroy me. God already has the victory. Do I look back to see the waters close in behind me or walk on believing it’s done already? I think the latter.
Stepping into the unknown…well, it’s only unknown to me…not to God.
I‘m called to rejoice and give thanks and to trust the Father’s heart for me.
The Lord is my Shepherd. Psalm 23
He leads me, restores me, revives me….my future is in the hands of the Sovereign God.
“For I know the plans I have for you are to prosper you…not to harm you”. Jeremiah 29:11
“And we know that in All things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
I will finish with this passage from Psalm 139:5.
‘You’ve gone into my future to prepare the way
And in kindness you follow behind me to spare me from the harm of my past
With your hand of love, You impart a blessing to me
Wherever I go, Your hand will guide me
Your strength will empower me.”
Philippians 2:13
“for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose”.
I declare God’s favour over my life…. and yours.
Amen.