I believe that at times in our lives God throws us twist and turns to make sure we are paying attention and not getting too comfortable. This last week was one of those weeks for me and my wife in which we found ourselves paying more attention to what God was doing in our lives. My week consisted of finding out that i have been accepted into the graduate school program i applied to and then two days later finding out that i have been laid off from my job. My emotions throughout all of this have varied across the spectrum from popping a bottle of champagne to celebrate to sitting in my bosses office fighting back tears of frustration and sadness. The only thing that sustained me through all of this is the continued assurance that God is indeed in control of my life and has a plan that is far greater than i can imagine.
It is interesting to me that time and time again God can pull through and provide, we praise Him and tell all of our friends that we always knew God would provide, when in reality we had doubts about how everything would truly work out. I had an opportunity to teach on the Exodus of the Israelites the other week and was baffled at how they continue to question God even in the midst of His provisions. God has performed many miraculous plagues in Egypt as He pushes Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, but the Israelites continue to question God provisions even in the midst of everything. When things get more difficult for them they wonder if perhaps they would have been better off continuing their lives as slaves. God doesn’t let this happen though, because He has made a promise to bring them out of Egypt and deliver the Israelites into the promise land and our God is one who is true to His word.
Eventually Pharaoh gives in and allows the Israelites to leave Egypt. The Israelites are overjoyed at their newfound freedom, but it doesn’t take long before they once again begin to question Gods provisions in their lives. They soon find themselves backed up against the Red Sea with Pharaoh and his army chasing after them and they cry out to Moses criticizing him for bringing them out of Egypt to die. Their doubt is astonishing! God has protected them from every single plague, brought them out of the captivity they lived in in Egypt, allowed them to take all the wealth from the Egyptians, and yet when faced with the unknown they doubt and question God. God stays true to His word and protects them once again from Pharaoh by parting the Red Sea and allowing them to walk across on dry ground, but i question when the Israelites will learn that God is always faithful? When will we learn that God will always be faithful?
Like the Israelites we too often find ourselves doubting and questioning God when difficult times arise. It is so crucial to the development of our faith that we work at recognizing Gods provisions in our lives in order that we may trust Him in all areas of our lives. We need to allow ourselves the freedom to believe that despite what the world says about providing for ourselves or taking care of me, we as Christians must turn to God to provide for our needs and take care of us in all situations. I have found that this past week God has given me the perfect opportunity to begin living into his provisions. With the changes in my job as well as the acceptance to Grad school it is time that i just feet first into the Red Sea trusting that God will provide and allow me to walk on dry ground.
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