July 6th, 2021
By Lani Cole-Mitchell
It’s nice to be returning to the “normalcy” of gatherings with family and friends, backyard BBQ’s, trips down the shore and vacation planning! Just a year ago we were all safe and secure in our homes, adapting to virtual church and meetings and work, anxiously awaiting for a vaccine and the “all clear” to resume to what we referred to as “normal.” This year, however, is much different. Despite the week’s record heat, traffic has picked up, folks are retuning to work and dining and gatherings, children are laughing and riding bikes and swimming in pools and birds are singing a new song. In the air, hope floats all around us.
Some people are ready to rip the masks off, hug everyone they see, and make plans for every night of the week making up for lost time. There are also some people who will take their time with baby steps and return to whatever they deem as “normal” at their own pace. Both are OK, as long as you are trusting God in all of this.
Mike’s message on Sunday, and the theme of this year's VBS was......say it with me: “TRUST JESUS!”
On the darkest nights….
In the roughest storms….
When it seems like we’re all alone….
Trust Jesus.
As we start our new series this Sunday reflecting on the 10 Commandments, I immediately thought of Moses. Prior to receiving the 10 Commandments from God, Moses led the Israelites as they fled Pharaoh’s reign. The Israelites faith and trust in God was not always strong. In fact, it wavered. We see this as the Israelites are standing at the Red Sea with nowhere to go and Pharaoh’s army racing toward them in Exodus 14:10-14
“As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.””
Moses knew in that moment that God was with them. God was meeting them exactly where they needed to be met. The odds looked as though they were stacked against them.
The story continues in Exodus 14:21-23. “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and chariot drivers.”
Verses 26-29 continue: “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.”
It’s clear that Moses trusted God. He had the difficult task of leading the Israelites who were unable to trust God in these moments. However, Moses’ faith and trust in God was strong and it did not waver. He and his people were free from years of bondage under Pharaoh in Egypt.
I found myself asking these questions:
How was Moses able to trust God so freely without hesitation?
How did he know that God was going to show up, in big ways, when there was no where else to turn?
Why can’t I always trust that God is with me and will show up when things are rough?
I don’t have answers to these questions, but I do believe that God loves me. He loves you. Nothing will ever change that. I will repeat that: nothing will ever change that! He will always be there for us ready to fight for us and show up when we least expect it. When things are scary and seem like nothing good will ever come about, God is with us. In the quiet. In the chaos. In the dark. In the light. In the storm. In the sunshine. God is with us. I know I struggle trusting that at times, and will strive to pause and reflect in those moments, remembering that God “split the sea so I could walk right through it.”
I encourage you this week to reflect on those moments where you were unable to fully trust God. Even though you may not be able to pinpoint the why or the how, you are taking the first step recognizing where you found it difficult to trust Him. I pray that you grow from these moments, and remember that God is always with you, with open arms, carrying you, splitting seas for you, and loving you fiercely through every storm.
It’s nice to be returning to the “normalcy” of gatherings with family and friends, backyard BBQ’s, trips down the shore and vacation planning! Just a year ago we were all safe and secure in our homes, adapting to virtual church and meetings and work, anxiously awaiting for a vaccine and the “all clear” to resume to what we referred to as “normal.” This year, however, is much different. Despite the week’s record heat, traffic has picked up, folks are retuning to work and dining and gatherings, children are laughing and riding bikes and swimming in pools and birds are singing a new song. In the air, hope floats all around us.
Some people are ready to rip the masks off, hug everyone they see, and make plans for every night of the week making up for lost time. There are also some people who will take their time with baby steps and return to whatever they deem as “normal” at their own pace. Both are OK, as long as you are trusting God in all of this.
Mike’s message on Sunday, and the theme of this year's VBS was......say it with me: “TRUST JESUS!”
On the darkest nights….
In the roughest storms….
When it seems like we’re all alone….
Trust Jesus.
As we start our new series this Sunday reflecting on the 10 Commandments, I immediately thought of Moses. Prior to receiving the 10 Commandments from God, Moses led the Israelites as they fled Pharaoh’s reign. The Israelites faith and trust in God was not always strong. In fact, it wavered. We see this as the Israelites are standing at the Red Sea with nowhere to go and Pharaoh’s army racing toward them in Exodus 14:10-14
“As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.””
Moses knew in that moment that God was with them. God was meeting them exactly where they needed to be met. The odds looked as though they were stacked against them.
The story continues in Exodus 14:21-23. “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and chariot drivers.”
Verses 26-29 continue: “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.”
It’s clear that Moses trusted God. He had the difficult task of leading the Israelites who were unable to trust God in these moments. However, Moses’ faith and trust in God was strong and it did not waver. He and his people were free from years of bondage under Pharaoh in Egypt.
I found myself asking these questions:
How was Moses able to trust God so freely without hesitation?
How did he know that God was going to show up, in big ways, when there was no where else to turn?
Why can’t I always trust that God is with me and will show up when things are rough?
I don’t have answers to these questions, but I do believe that God loves me. He loves you. Nothing will ever change that. I will repeat that: nothing will ever change that! He will always be there for us ready to fight for us and show up when we least expect it. When things are scary and seem like nothing good will ever come about, God is with us. In the quiet. In the chaos. In the dark. In the light. In the storm. In the sunshine. God is with us. I know I struggle trusting that at times, and will strive to pause and reflect in those moments, remembering that God “split the sea so I could walk right through it.”
I encourage you this week to reflect on those moments where you were unable to fully trust God. Even though you may not be able to pinpoint the why or the how, you are taking the first step recognizing where you found it difficult to trust Him. I pray that you grow from these moments, and remember that God is always with you, with open arms, carrying you, splitting seas for you, and loving you fiercely through every storm.
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