“Then Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind. The wind blew all that night, turning the seabed into dry land.” (Exodus 14:21 NLT)
There are difficult times in the lives of every Jesus follower, but God ALWAYS makes a way. It may be unorthodox and unexpected, but He will never abandon us.
The children of Israel had just left Egypt where they’d been in slavery for four hundred years. Those living had never known freedom, yet, miraculously, God had delivered them. But now they stood on the shoreline of the Red Sea, trapped between the uncrossable water and the approaching Egyptian army. It seemed hopeless.
No doubt in the minds of many of the children of Israel they wondered why God would go to all the trouble of freeing them, only to allow them to be murdered. It didn’t make sense. Yet, God knew all along what He would do, and the result was celebration and worship of the only true and living God.
Being trapped in seeming impossible situations isn’t an isolated occurrence for lovers of God. After my divorce I felt trapped in what to me seemed like an impossible situation. Divorced pastors aren’t exactly “hot items” in the job market, so the only job I could find was a commission only position as a car salesman. I was grateful for the job, but had no money, so waiting for a paycheck seemed like an eternity.
My wife and I had accumulated debt based on both of our incomes, but when she left, I was stuck with about $60,000 of debt after we sold the house. I couldn’t in good conscience file bankruptcy because the Lord convicted my heart that I’d made the debt and was responsible for paying it back. On some levels it was like standing on the shore of a raging sea, with an army of debt-collectors bearing down on me. What impossible “mountain” are you climbing right now? Whatever it is, God WILL make a way!
My wife has a dear friend who is crippled with scoliosis, among other physical issues, and her husband has severe Alzheimer’s. Their day-to-day goal is survival. My precious wife helps in many ways, but there’s only so much anyone can do. They need a miracle. That’s where God comes in. We don’t yet know how He’ll do it, but He WILL meet their needs.
There are many other examples of tragic circumstances that I could share, but my goal in this post isn’t to paint such a picture of bleakness that it leads to despair. Rather, having walked through very hard times, I know that God can be trusted. He will make a way where it seems there is no way.
Wondering if I’d ever have opportunity to pastor again after my divorce, I was pleasantly surprised when I received a call from a church in Michigan inviting me to candidate. It seemed that everything went “right” when I was there. The people were loving, responsive to me as a single parent, and seemed excited to have me come. But there was a “check” in my spirit.
In the meantime, my mentor called and asked if I’d be interested in checking out a church in Ohio, but I couldn’t consider that until the Lord gave me an answer as to whether I should accept the call to the other church.
Long story short, I went to Ohio. Nothing spectacular about that, except for two very important reasons which never entered my mind. First, Cleveland, Ohio had the only approved site for a National Cancer Institute for many miles. Why is that important? Because my son and I arrived in Ohio in May of 1991. In February of 1992 he was diagnosed with leukemia. You don’t get better Cancer care than at an NCI facility.
But secondly, my son’s primary Nurse was beautiful and available, and has now been my wife for nearly 30 years. God ALWAYS makes a way where there seems to be no way. And His plans are always better than anything we could have imagined.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 