When miracles seem slow to happen...

I’ve been reading lately in the book of Exodus, and this morning I reached the chapters where the Israelites - more than a million of them - have just escaped from Egypt and are slowly beginning their journey towards freedom. 

How long did they travel in the desert before they even reached the Red Sea? The movies make it look as if Pharaoh was hot on their heels within hours of their escaping from Egypt. In reality, this first part of the journey (chapter 13) was long enough for Moses to give them teaching about  the dedication of the firstborn; long enough to establish the pattern of the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night; long enough for God to explain that He was not taking them by the most direct route - in case having to face the Philistines in battle was too much for them and made them want to return to Egypt.

But finally - maybe after a few days - they do arrive at the seashore and set up camp there. And, as God knew all along, this is exactly the point where the pursuing Egyptian chariots catch up with them. As is often the case in life, things looked pretty bleak just before the miracle happened, and the Israelites began to panic and complain. “It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than to be a corpse in the desert,” they said. Moses had to step in and reassure them with these well known words :  

The Lord Himself will fight for you. Just stay calm. (Exodus 14:14, NLT)

I received those words for my own life this morning, as I continue to battle with pneumonia, and experience on top of that the side effects (leg cramps and strange muscular pain in my lower back) from an antibiotic that I was prescribed this week. It would be easy to panic in the face of medical evidence of the thousands of people who’ve experienced disability and had to undergo tendon surgery as a result of taking fluoroquinolone antibiotics. (Just google levaquin or cipro tendonitis, levaquin toxicity, etc, and the stories are pretty scary!)

Although I don’t feel any panic or fear, it would nonetheless be easy for me to get weary and say, like the Israelites: “It’s better to stay where I am; better to avoid international ministry travel than to have to put up with such debilitating lung infections and strange medical emergencies every time.” (Because the pneumonia has often been the trigger for some other bizarre affliction: in 2014 it was an accident that caused bad facial burns, and this year it’s this rather painful levaquin toxicity.)

But I refuse to resign myself to being a prisoner, like the Israelites wanted to do in the face of their enemy. I receive those words from Exodus 14:14 - that God will fight for me, and that I simply need to stay calm as I wait for Him to demonstrate His awesome power. There’s some truth in the old adage that it’s always darkest before the dawn. Wouldn’t it have been tragic if the Israelites had started to return to Egypt, just because they found themselves in deep darkness? They would have missed out on one of the greatest miracles in their history, and would never have experienced in their own lives that God really does care enough to fight for them.

What’s the situation in your life that would bring you to the end of your tether and make you want to retreat into slavery? (Slavery to worry, fear, discouragement or whatever… ) Perhaps this promise from Ex 14: 14 is also for you today: The Lord Himself will fight for you. Don’t panic, don’t give in to despair, but be still and wait to see Him act. If you’re positioned correctly (God had actually instructed the Israelites to “turn back and camp” on the seashore) you’ll be in the right place to witness God’s victory in your challenging situation. Take courage today.