Grains of Sand

Is your back against the wall? No place to run? Take a tip from Israel’s experience in Exodus 14. They’ve escaped Egypt, but Pharaoh has changed his mind and is pursuing them, intent on bringing them back. It finally clicked that he had just allowed his whole labour force to walk out on him. Though the King of Egypt didn’t know it, his decision was divinely orchestrated (14:4) so that both Egypt and Israel would know Who was the LORD. Moses knew that and we assume he passed that information on to the people. However, the sight of the Egyptian army barreling down on them drove the implication of God’s promise from their minds. They panicked (14:10-12). Funny what fear does to us. The Hebrews were ready to bolt, to surrender, to throw a fit. “ Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you to day. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still ” —Exodus...

“ Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, but I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God ” —Psalm 42:11, NIV. Do you remember the Charlie Brown character who always walks around with a cloud over his head? It’s dust, because he’s a dirty kid. But he reminds me, well, of me. There are times when no matter how well things are going, how blessed I might be, there always seems to be a cloud lingering overhead. It often goes nameless, not appearing to have an origin or a reason for being. It’s just there. Perhaps it’s the state of the world: evil run rampant, earthquakes, and friends going through hard times. Perhaps it’s an unfulfilled desire or a blocked path. Perhaps, I’m just tired and in need of some physical and emotional relief from the “day-to-day.” Sometimes, I’m sure, it’s an issue about which I need to get right with God. The psalmist turns his focus away from the cloud and directs it elsewhere. He tells his listeners to “hope...