Walking with Moses

I think that it is very difficult for us to face the unknown.  I know that I like to know what is coming beforehand in order to prepare for it.  When I was a child, we prepared for the end of society by building fallout shelters.  At least, we thought that we were preparing ourselves in the face of a catastrophe, the dropping of a bomb.

The truth is that all of us wish we could see ahead to prepare ourselves for the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, the onslaught of a disease, or any other eventuality that we hope we could have known about beforehand in order that we can mitigate its effects. Sadly, we don’t see the future, and actually, no one knows if we could prevent a loss even if we did know what might happen.

Turning to the Bible, I have always been impressed with Moses’ great faith, that he believed so much in God that he followed God’s instructions about what to do about Pharaoh to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  God provided Aaron to speak for him; He let loose the plagues to convince Pharaoh of His cause.  If we look closer at the story, we see that God only gave immediate instructions, not necessarily the gritty details about how Moses would tackle every problem that arose.

As each situation presented itself, like the protection from the last plague to the pillar of light to guide the Israelites by night and day, those details were revealed.  It occurred to me that no one had a clue how day-to-day living was going to take place, especially if Pharaoh reneged on his promises.

I wonder if Moses worried, just a little bit, when it came to the day when they would all have to cross the Red Sea or Reed Sea, or whatever the body of water was called.  Was he afraid or confident that an answer would be forthcoming?  The Bible seems to tell us that he had faith, even though he continued to have an open conversation with God.

And here is where God’s influence was felt.  God provided, whether or not Moses knew what was coming.  God provided a way, in this case a path.  He held the raging Egyptian army at bay, while the sea opened up, and then ultimately, drew it back to kill all of the soldiers to save the Israelites. 

To me, there’s a lesson here.  When I don’t know what’s ahead, and I am afraid, I think of Moses, and that wonderful miracle that provided safety to all of Moses’ people.  They were God’s people, and He saved them.  I can only imagine that not one of them could conceive such an occurrence.  It was totally outside of the realm of their experience, no different than what I fear or could possibly consider.

That gives me great comfort.  Often I don’t know how events or situations will turn out; but if I have faith in God, then He too will provide an answer, a way, a path.  It will be something much better than I could ever conceive, a road out of my difficulties, a safe haven onto “dry land.”

S. Becker