In Exodus 14, God parted the Red Sea in order for the children of Israel to cross over. A renowned story that most everyone knows, but today I want to take a closer look. Verse 8 tells us that they went out with “boldness”. After all, they had just witnessed God’s mighty power when He sent the plagues to the Egyptians. At the same time they experienced His abundant mercy as He protected them from each plague, but their boldness quickly turned to fear when they find that the Egyptians are chasing them.

Aren’t we a lot like that today? One day we’re on top of the world – as Christians, we are loving Jesus and life is running smoothly. Then a hardship comes our way. (We are living in a fallen world; we are not promised an easy life.). We begin to look at the problem through our human eyes, forgetting who is really in control.

The story continues with God using this time to show His love and power. Verse 13 says, “…Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord…” Verse 14 says, “The Lord will fight for you…” He is still the same God. He is telling us the same thing today:

“Do not be afraid…Stand still…He will fight for you…”

Let’s not forget the next, most famous part of the story. God not only parts the sea and lets the multitude of Israelites cross on dry land, He also stands guard between them and the Egyptians. Verse 19-20 tells us, “The Angel of God…moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel.” We can trust God to lead us and to protect us even in our darkest days.

We all know how this story ends. The children of Israel are saved and the Egyptians are killed. The last verse in this chapter tells us, “So the Lord saved Israel…; so the people feared and believed in the Lord.” It’s a wonderful story that reminds us of God’s might and power along with His love and grace for His children. It is also a reminder that often our most difficult days are the very ones that can be used for His glory to draw others to Him and remind us that He is still in charge. We just need to stand still and trust in Him.

But God…what a wonderful promise that in our most difficult times, God shows up. If not for His love and grace, we would be overtaken by the storms of this life. The concept of But God…comes directly from His Word. Over and over we find story after story of those in dire straits on the verge of destruction but just in time, God shows up and changes things. He may not always change our situation; sometimes what He changes is our attitude…our perspective from self-centered to God-centered. Along with a God-centered perspective comes the “peace that passes understanding” even in the most dire of circumstances.

In Genesis 48:21, when Israel is dying, he says to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, BUT GOD will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.”

In Genesis 50, after Israel had died, Joseph’s brothers were afraid of what Joseph might do to them. In verse 20, Joseph tells them, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; BUT GOD meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people.”

In 1 Kings 5, Solomon is reflecting on how his father, David was not able to build a temple for God due to opposition at every turn . Verse 5 says, “BUT now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side…”

In 1 Samuel 23, we see David being chased by Saul and his army. Verse 14 tells us “…Saul sought him everyday, BUT GOD did not deliver him into his hand.”

In Acts 2, Paul is talking to the people of Israel. he tells them that with the Gentiles help, they nailed Jesus to a cross and killed him. Verse 24 says, “BUT GOD released him from the horrors of death and raised him to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.”

In Ephesians 2, Paul is talking about our sinful nature. Verse 4 says, BUT GOD who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…”

These are only a few examples, but it is clear that we can trust in God in our darkest times. I’m writing this in the middle of the Pandemic. The world is a crazy and unstable place right now. How comforting to know that this world is temporary and that with a whisper of “BUT GOD,” we can feel His presence and know that He is in control – no matter our circumstances.

Confession…brings to mind a criminal admitting guilt in a court setting. (I watch way too much Law and Order). God’s purpose for confession has a higher meaning. It helps to bring about repentence and His forgiveness. I was reading through Genesis 3 this morning. Beginning in verse nine, God begins asking Adam and Eve a series of questions: “Where are you?”; “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”; “What is this you have done?”

God is omniscient. He knew before he asked all the answers to his questions. The lesson for us is that he asked. He wanted them to confess and own up to their sin – the first step to forgiveness. We all know this story. Instead of throwing themselves at God’s feet and begging forgiveness, Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent and they were thrown out of Eden with punishments that affect us still today. God is loving but God is also just.

My daughter has a son who is almost four. When he disobeys, she makes him say what he did wrong. She is a loving mother who wants to correct bad behavior and part of that is having him say out loud what he did wrong. I don’t think she’s analyzed the process or thought about the Biblical implications, it’s just a natural process in raising children. It reminds me so much of our heavenly Father who loves us so much. He asked the first humans questions he knew the answer to….It was for them. In the New Testament, we are told over and over to confess our sins.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

James 5:16

God knows that as humans we need to “come clean” by saying out loud and admitting to our sin. It is such an important step in being made clean and being set free in Christ. Just like my grandson, Cayden, has to tell his parents what he did wrong, so should we tell Jesus what we’ve “done wrong”…Confess our sins to Him, so we can be made right again and not be consumed by guilt or ongoing sin.

I love that we serve a God who loves us so much that He made a way for our sinful nature to be made right again through His own Son’s sacrifice and resurrection. He also knew how important it would be for us to confess our sins to him daily – to renew our minds and confess our sins to him every day. That’s for us…so we can live in victory and freedom.

January 1, 2019 –  A new year.  A time to reflect on the past year and look forward to what’s in store for the new year.  A few year’s ago I began praying about a word or phrase that I felt God wanted me to focus on and grow from.  This year the word surrender keeps coming to mind.  It’s not really what I had in mind.  According to Miriam Webster, surrender means to give oneself up into the power of another.  In this case, I am resolving to surrender everything to God.  If you google surrendering to God, there are a ton of memes that make it sound easy and holy and the answer to all your problems.   I don’t believe it is that easy, but I do believe it is necessary.

As a Christian, an important prayer is “They will be done”, but when life isn’t going the way we want, when prayers aren’t being answered in the timeframe we want or in the way we want, the “Thy will be done prayer” becomes much harder.  Currently, I’m going through a situation just like this.  God has not answered my prayers in the way I want.  My first reaction was fear.  My word last year was fearless.  God really spoke to me and calmed my fears and I was able to share what He had shown me with women at my mother’s church and other’s whom I have been given the opportunity to share this message.

God’s glory was lifted high to many others through my experiences, but God has not changed my circumstances and although my fear is abated, I have recently begun to have other ungodly feelings about my situation – sadness and honestly a little anger.  This is where surrender comes in.  As I first began considering the need for surrender, a sadness started settling in. It felt like I was giving up something that I wasn’t ready to give up.  It was like I was becoming almost martyrish (is that a word?)…I was giving up, but honestly not in a good way.  My frame of mind was not good.  As I began to pray about my attitude, I felt God’s love and presence and something else.  My word for this year needs something else  – Joy. Surrendering to God’s will – His plan for my life (even if it’s not what I think I want should lead to the fruit of the spirit, including Joy and Peace.  Getting to that point is not easy and it takes a daily laying down of myself and studying God’s Word and praying.  The same thing I tell my Sunday School students is true for me and for you.  Whatever your situation is…I purposefully did not state my current issue because I believe this applies to many different “issues”.  First, fear rears it’s ugly head.  We get that under control and then anger and sadness begin to worm their way into our hearts and cause us to not have the peace God offers us.  We’re not giving up by surrendering; we’re accepting God’s gift of Joy and Peace that passes human understanding.  It’s not a quick fix by any means.  It takes staying in the Word, but it is so worth it.  Living the life God has for us can be exciting and filled with Joy even through the hard times.  My prayer for 2019 is to surrender and feel God’s peace and joy daily.   I’ll leave you with a scripture from 1 Peter 5:6-10:

It’s been over a year since I’ve posted.  My broken elbow that occurred in July 2017 ended up causing three surgeries.  I discovered that getting injured on a Saturday means you don’t get to choose your surgeon.  The on-call doctor really butchered my ulnar nerve.  I broke my elbow, but it was my hand that was in constant pain and ridiculously swollen. So, a month later I had the second surgery with the same doctor to try to relieve pressure or something…He made it worse and then quit returning my calls.  I thank God for my family doctor who listened to me and immediately referred me to a specialist.  I had a third surgery, two days after Christmas with almost immediate relief from pain.  I still have nerve damage and several fingers that won’t extend, but am so thankful I am not in constant pain anymore.

Happier news, grandchild number four was born in September 2018, a sweet baby girl named Hunter Rae, born perfectly healthy – so precious!

This past year or so, God has been dealing with me about trusting and relying on Him alone.  I feel like I’m in an odd place in my life…waiting for what’s next, not knowing what the future holds, but trusting God and trying not to worry.  My dream of becoming an administrator seems to not be in God’s plan.  He did provide a job that I enjoy.  I am an ESL Liaison at my kid’s alma mater.  It feels like I came home.

The sad news this past year is that we lost Daddy January 30, 2018.  That was hard even though we knew it was coming.  He had multiple myeloma cancer and Parkinson’s.

The big news this year is my husband was given a promotion.  I’ve prayed for years that God would give him the job of his dreams.  I forgot to mention in my prayers that I would prefer the job to be here, in Texas within driving distance of our house.  The job is in North Carolina….We live in Texas.  This could and may be at a different time an entire blog in itself, but in a nutshell, I do not want to leave my four grandchildren, one of whom we co-parent…my Chloe girl who we have every week-end, holidays, and summer.  Also, my 85 year old mother lives here within driving distance. I love my husband dearly, and he loves me.  I believe God brought us together.  Right now, we are having a long-distance marriage.  Luckily, he travels a lot for his job and that includes here.   Let me tell you, this will help keep your prayer life strong.  I don’t want to move, but I’m learning to trust God for my future whether that means, he eventually gets a job back here, or I move there.  I know God is in control…but it takes day-to-day reminders – staying in the Word and prayer.

I see His hand on my life.  I am privileged to teach our 5th and 6th grade Sunday School class at my church and also sing in the choir and teach a 7th-12th grade girl’s study on Wednesday nights.  I have also been able to design and facilitate a women’s week-end several times at various places over the past two years.  I hope to do more of that in the future.  I love teaching other’s about God’s love.

I feel like this blog is very stream-of-consciousness.  I did say I was “catching up” .  I’ll try to stick to one topic next time, but for now I’ll leave you with this:

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you.  He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.                  Deuteronomy 31:8

As Chloe used to say, “see you in a little bit,”

Elaine