The Long Cut to Paradise

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Have you ever taken a short cut only to find yourself….lost? That 5 minutes you were saving has long expired and been replaced with 30 minutes extra! Sometimes I wonder when I’ll realize that taking the familiar road isn’t so long after all.

There’s a similar story in the book of Exodus where God took His people, the Israelites, the long way around. However, His plans are always perfect and hidden in this “long-cut” lay a lesson about Himself….

Exodus 13:17-18 says, “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, ‘If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.’ So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.”

Did you notice how God didn’t lead the Israelites the short way? He intentionally took them by the long road, lest they see difficulties and turn back. But do you remember what BIG THING lay on this “long road”? Yes, the Red Sea. God knew full good and well it was approaching. He didn’t panic when Moses reached the edge of land and the people were wailing, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?”. God didn’t look to Jesus and say, “Shoot! I forgot about the Red Sea! Holy Spirit, pull up the GPS map and see where they need to go from here!!” No, God had a plan.

So if God’s in control and He’s intentionally, on purpose, divinely guided his people to the edge of disaster, what are they supposed to do? What is He doing and WHY? These are the kind of questions I ask when faced with my version of the Red Sea. Verse 15 of Chapter 14 answers it best. “The Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.” Then in verse 18, God explains part of the why…. “The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horseman.”

If you haven’t noticed, to just keep walking when the road ends takes faith. Abundant faith.
God’s ways are higher than our ways, so we can’t always know WHY, but we can rest in the fact that He knows. Maybe He has us here to refine us, or meet the needs of someone around us, like the Egyptians in the example above. It could be just to bring Him glory. It’s not because God needs an ego boost, but because the sooner we focus our eyes on Him and take the spotlight off ourselves, the more satisfied and abundant people we will be. That’s just how He created us, how He knit us. We have an insatiable NEED for God. Only when we come to that realization and yield to it can we walk through the water that threatens to flood our path. Circumstance don’t catch God off guard. He’s not reeling and searching GOOGLE to find the answer to my problem. He’s in control of it. He’s at the helm. He’s the CREATOR.

“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.” (Ex 13:14) Will our hearts obey Him when we hear Him saying that to US?

Faith Floaties

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Do we need proof of God’s Word being alive and sharper than a double-edged sword? How about reading a familiar bible story in a fresh, new light and it producing in you a realization that you never saw before? That’s what happened to me with Matthew 14:13-33. This is my rendition of that moment…

The feeding of the 5 thousand happened right after Jesus heard about John the Baptist’s beheading. He withdrew by boat to be alone. What He was feeling, we aren’t told. But, interrupting that quiet, alone time, was the crowds that began gathering around him. Filled with compassion, He began teaching them and healing the sick. As evening came, the disciples remind Jesus everyone will be getting hungry soon and they sure don’t have enough food to feed such a crowd. The familiar story then unfolds when food multiplies from Heaven and Jesus produces enough to feed them all. After the baskets were returned, the leftovers bagged up, Jesus sent His disciples on up ahead of Him while He dismissed the crowds. Jesus, however, decided to resume his “quiet time” and retreated again to a mountainside to pray A-L-O-N-E. Meanwhile, His disciples have now drifted a considerable distance away from the shore because it’s almost morning. Jesus approaches them, walking on the water. The disciples’ mouths gape open in fear, but Jesus says,”It is I. Do not be afraid.” Peter speaks up and says, “Lord, tell me to come to you.” “Come on,” Jesus says. Peter inches out, then realizes what he’s doing and a million doubts fill his head. Instantly his feet begin to fail and he’s sinking. “Help, Lord!” he yells. As Jesus swoops in to gently lift him up, Jesus asks, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” I imagine Peter saying, “But Lord, the waves…I …..can’t….” Jesus rests him on the boat and the wind stills. The LORD has walked into the boat and all creation must obey Him. 

Jesus didn’t still the waves to boost Peter’s self-confidence. He let him sink, carried him to the boat, then stilled the waves so that the disciples would worship HIM. I agree with the disciples, “Truly you are the Son of God”!

Natural Reflections

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My son once told me, “Cars are like shoes and trucks are like boots.” I’ve reveled Caleb’s natural, sixth sense of categories since he was 9 months old. I remember reading one of his picture books together and he pointed eagerly to a bar of soap and washcloth on the page. He immediately closed the book, grabbed my hand and insisted we walk down the hall to his bathroom where there was also a bar of soap and washcloth draped over the tub. Words weren’t even necessary for me to know he’d connected the dots!

So now it’s my turn to make a connection. His statement remind me of Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes 3, which has brought me great comfort this past week with the passing of my grandmother. Here’s what it says in verses 1-8 : “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.”
I’m so comforted to know that God understands the stages of life – and proves Himself all sufficient through them all. God, who’s original plan was not that we should die, for that is what sin brought into this world. Yet He never turns His back on us and is there to heal every hurt this fallen world inflicts. I praise Him for that!
Throughout this past week of witnessing the last days of my grandmother, I see so many parallels to the beginning of life and the end. And Ecclesiastes confirms there’s a time for both. God has appointed for us all a time to live the life He’s given us and a time when He calls us home. There was a time my grandmother would’ve healed from a shoulder injury, but this time she didn’t. (vs. 3) There’s a time to search out the answers to life’s questions and a time to just let it be.
A sweet friend told my tearful, apologetic Grandfather, “It’s OK to cry. It’s a time to cry.” (vs 4) And it is! I’m so thankful God is with me – us, in our time of mourning. We won’t mourn forever, because it says in Psalm 30:11 “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.” I can rejoice in so many things, – memories, friends, but most of all because God is good. His goodness endures forever. Caleb’s cars, trucks, boots and shoes will soon be in the “time to throw away” category, but those who trust in the Lord may fall asleep in this world, but awake to an eternal home that never spoils, fades or perishes!! Amen!

What does 2013 hold?

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For our family, the month of December was an exciting one! But it also seemed be the month of everything breaking…bread machine, saucepan, ceiling light fixture, mop, vacuum, washer drain line.

On Monday, my husband, Adam, gets into his truck to run some errands and it makes this grrrrr…clank, shhhhh noise (which I learned is the starter not starting!). It’s times like these, I’m reminded it’s God who’s in control, not me, and without Him holding all things together it’d all fall apart! I have to choose not to worry about tomorrow.

We have a house re-model planned with the money we’ve been saving, not exactly repairs! But I have to trust in my Savior! That His plans have to be good for me because He is good, and He cannot do something outside His character! So any “light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all,” (2 Cor 4:17) I can only do that by applying the next verse: “fixing my eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen [troubles, breakdowns] is temporary [not lasting long] but what is unseen [character building] is eternal[lasting forever!].” And that makes me truly excited!!!