On the Shore of the Red Sea

Sometimes I am standing on the shore in front of the Red Sea. 

Have you ever thought about what it would have been like to actually be there, standing on the shore of the Red Sea when the Lord began to stir the waters and draw them back on both sides? 

I wonder what the Israelites felt. What was going through their minds? On one hand, they probably stood in absolute, mouth-hanging-open awe and wonder. On the other hand, they were likely more terrified than ever before in their entire lives. Maybe they couldn't keep their eyes off the phenomenon before them, but at the same time maybe they wanted to hide their eyes in fear. Their feet were probably jumping to step onto that soft sea bottom, yet their feet were also shaking in their sandals, unable to move from fright. Were they looking out over the miraculous pathway, ready to step forward...or were they looking over their shoulders back at Egypt, tempted to just turn around and go back right then and there? 

They had to be thinking that this was the most incredibly, unbelievably awesome thing they had ever experienced. At the same time, it had to also be the most terrifying, crazy thing they had ever experienced.

Sometimes I am standing on the shore in front of the Red Sea. 

And I find myself in a conflicting place. I did not know so many intense emotions could coexist at one time. I feel both confidence and fear. I feel both boldness and humility. I feel both prepared and inadequate. I desire to step forward, yet I desire to stay back. I want to go to Africa, but I also want to be a part of what God is doing here in the United States.

Sometimes I am standing on the shore in front of the Red Sea. 

I know that I am being led forward, but I feel comfortable in the home that I have always known. I am faced with the adventure of a lifetime, yet the path before me is daunting. I see a miraculous pathway in front of me that could only have been laid out by God himself, but I hesitate slightly at the majesty of it all. 

And that's when God's promise from Isaiah 9:1 resonates in my heart. "He has made glorious the way of the sea."

The way of the sea is challenging, yes. But it is also wonderful. It is both amazing and terrifying. It is dangerous and safe. It is adventurous and risky. There will be success and stumbling. And in all this, it is glorious. God has made this pathway before me for me, and he will make my steps and the journey ahead glorious. 

Sometimes we are standing on the shore in front of the Red Sea. We are facing things too miraculous and too scary to comprehend. We are beckoned to go forward, yet tempted to stay back. In those Red Sea shore moments, remember God's promise in Isaiah 9:1. He is preparing a path for us, he will be with us in the journey ahead, and he will make the way glorious. 

That's all it takes to get one shaky sandal off the shore and onto the soft sea bottom.