no graves in Egypt

You’d think after the Ten Plagues and their amazing escape from captivity in Egypt, the Israelites would have confidence in their God. But the chapters in Exodus that I read this morning show that they still have a long way to go.

The story tells of Pharaoh setting out to pursue them, and how the people reacted – not in faith, but in panic. Exodus 14:10-14 says, “As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, “Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians”? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’ Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.’”

The Lord will fight for you, Moses said, and he did. Exodus 14:24-25: “During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, ‘Let's get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’”

It was a fight God intended all along – at the start of this chapter, in the first four verses, he told Moses that he planned to harden Pharaoh’s heart so that God would gain glory by defeating him, and all Egypt would know that he was the Lord. And of course, in the end the Israelites escape by walking through the parted waters and Pharaoh’s army drowns trying to follow.

There are two takeaways here for me. First, God’s plans are always bigger than I know. Just like the Israelites didn’t see what God was doing because they were absorbed by how it would affect them, I too often focus on my own complaints because I don’t get what God is doing.

Second, I won’t get in trouble doing what God tells me to do. It might look like it, just like Pharaoh’s army looked like big trouble. But God has every situation under control, and he allows me to experience things in a way that builds me up and furthers his purpose. That might involve danger for my body, but never, ever for my soul or eternal destiny.

Just as much as the Israelites, I need to work on trust. God works for his own glory and for my good. Knowing that, I don’t have to see how it all works to know that it’s going to work out fine.