Meditation

Read Exodus 15:1-6                                        —Exodus 14:21 (NIV)

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and…the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land.

On this morning, our garage door openers were broken. When I told 5-year-old Ava to get into the car so I could take her to school, she reluctantly went to the car, but returned quickly after hitting the button and noticing that the door did not open. Sounding hopeless and with tears streaming down her face, she said, “If we go into the garage, we will be trapped. We can’t get out!” When I walked into the garage and manually opened the door, she settled down and took her seat. As Ava dried her tears, I assured her that I would never send her anyplace where she could be trapped, lost or hurt.

This moment of reassuring Ava brought the Israelites to mind. What they must have felt as they stood at the edge of the Red Sea, just before God parted it! Like Ava in trying to open the garage door, I realize that I, too, sometimes need to hear words of reassurance—especially when my attempts seem feeble and insufficient. I need to hear that God will truly never leave me or forsake me and that even when I am at the edge of my “Red Sea,” hotly pursued, God can make an unseen way clear.

Prayer—Dear God, when we cannot see the way forward, help us to trust that you make a way clear. Amen.

Thought for the Day—God promises never to leave us or forsake us. (See Deut. 31:6, Heb. 13:5.)

Cassius Rhue (South Carolina)