The Connection Winter 2020

Page 10

God’s P The clouds poured down rain; the thunder rumbled in the sky. Your arrows of lightning flashed. Your thunder roared from the whirlwind; the lightning lit up the world! The earth trembled and shook. Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters— a pathway no one knew was there! Psalm 77:17-19

Most of us have experience with thunder and

lightning long before we learn how to spell the words, or understand the science behind them. We have listened as the already loud noise of the pouring rain is overshadowed by the roar of a thunder clap. These powerful forces usually elicit some level of fear or dread in us. Heavy clouds wrench out their reservoirs as each lightning flash is followed by peals of thunder so powerful that the very ground quakes. The writer of Psalm 77 recalls one of Israel’s predicaments as they neared the sea with Pharaoh’s armies bearing down on them. Whether the storm described in verses 17-18 was real or allegorical, it was certainly true that dread surrounded them as they were hemmed in by the powerful and deadly obstacle of the Red Sea. From the perspective of a person facing these kinds of storms and obstacles, the question marks are huge, and naturally lead to the seemingly obvious conclusion, God must have turned against me: 7 Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again be kind to me? 8 Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed? 9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion? Interlude 10 And I said, “This is my fate; the Most High has turned his hand against me.” But just when hope was vanishing, and all seemed lost, the unexpected happened. God opened a trail right through the middle of the torrent … “a pathway no one knew was there!”

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The Connection

WINTER 2020

Over and again during their exodus these kinds of calamities repeated themselves: no water, no food, attacked by enemies, internal rebellions. One crisis came after another. And each time, the natural human tendency was to doubt. Woe is me, all is lost … We know the story well, because we do the same thing when facing our parade of setbacks. Even when we start out well with bold faith like the Apostle Peter walking on the water, we can (like him) become distracted and overwhelmed by the wind and the surrounding waves. We feel ourselves sinking in a sea of dread. Our world seems to be falling apart. But isn’t it obvious that story, after story, after story in Scripture is about this very thing?! Women and men from Genesis to the maps are confronted with disaster, disease, and disappointment. There are scores of examples: • Noah’s flood • Abraham and Sarah’s barrenness (and Rebekah’s … and Rachel’s) • Jacob’s family experiences famine • Joseph’s betrayal by his brothers • Israel’s slavery • Moses’ parents (and others) face orders of infanticide • The Exodus and its many challenges • Facing the giants in the land promised to Abraham • Routine invasions by other nations


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The Connection Winter 2020 by Evangelical Methodist Church - Issuu