In our overly distracted world much contends for our attention on a moment-by-moment basis.
At times, it is difficult to tune into those things which are important as the noise level increases and becomes deafening.
I tend to hear God best in quiet whispers.
In my case, employment issues and recent health concerns have caused the flood lights to be focused upon what is truly important.
Personally, this has occurred over an extended season nearly a decade in the making and I like to refer to it as His Red Sea Whispers to me.
My gut tells me similar experiences may ring a bell with you as none of us are immune to the issues life drops off on our doorstep.
Relational difficulties. Financial pressures. The loss of a job (or two or three or more). Health concerns. The passing of a loved one. A tragedy blind sides us.
Need I go on?
In the tradition in which I was raised, Bible stories were not taught routinely. The account of Moses leading the Israelites through the Red Sea was more of a fable or story than an actual event which occurred.
As I grew in my faith, flannel graph cut outs of Moses, the Rea Sea, and Pharaoh seemed cheesy at best and left me grasping for something more I could latch onto.
Life lessons are best learned experientially.
The Father, in His loving way, authored a script in my life to ensure that I would learn the lessons He intended for my betterment.
In November 2014, it began as a whisper.
Four days after I was told that my employment services were no longer needed, I came across a blog post entitled Red Sea Moments by Michele Cushatt, an author whom I was following online at the time.
Michele’s words have carried me on multiple occasions and I have referred others to her wonderful post which offers encouragement borne out of her real life pain and uncertainty.
Michele paints this picture:
“Red Seas are front-row seats for Divine displays. When it looks like there’s no way out? That’s when glory shows up. When you think you don’t have the strength for one more day? That’s when God’s mighty arm reaches down to ease your load. Don’t know if you can stop crying, for all you’ve lost? He grabs a jar, collects your tears and says, “I see! I hear! And I will not let you go!”
She summarizes it this way:
“I’ve discovered a delicious little secret about a Red Sea moment – a miracle waits in the middle of it.”
When I first read this declaration I was uncertain of it’s validity. The passing of time and learning to trust my Father has cemented this assertion inside of me.
Months prior to reading Michele’s post, we attended a stage production of Moses at Sight and Sound Theaters which dramatically portrayed the account of the Red Sea parting and God providing a way of escape for His people.
It was yet another tap on the shoulder and a thread in my tapestry that God was speaking to me to submit to Him as a matter of trust.
In case you are doubting it – you too are one of His people and He is your way maker!
Flash forward to 2021 and another job loss washes up on the beach. If you care to read about it you can do so here.
It has been a time of deep testing and one in which I have had to answer this question which God placed before me.
“Will your eyes be fixed on the circumstances in which you find yourself or will your eyes (and heart) be solely focused upon Me, the One who is fully aware of the details of your life and who knows the beginning from the end?”
I have attempted to the best of my ability to steer toward the latter.
At the time, a friend sent me sent me a wonderful devotional, The Red Sea Rules, by Robert J. Morgan to encourage me. It speaks of the God who brings us to a given moment is the same God whose desire is to lead us out.
Morgan distills his message to 10 key points or rules:
- Realize that God means for you to be where you are.
- Be more concerned for God’s glory than for your relief.
- Acknowledge your enemy, but keep your eyes on the Lord.
- Pray!
- Stay calm and confident and give God time to work.
- When unsure, just take the next logical step by faith.
- Envision God’s enveloping presence.
- Trust God to deliver in His own unique way.
- View your current crisis as a faith builder for the future.
- Don’t forget to praise Him.
I offer these rules to you not as an A + B = C formula to solve your problem, but as an encouragement to trust the One who is well aware of the circumstance(s) in which you find yourself.
He is trustworthy!
In early 2023, I agreed to a temporary employment assignment in the Accounting department at Sight and Sound Theaters in the Lancaster region.
In short, it was the most redemptive and wonderful employment experience I have had fostered by many caring people. During the time which I was employed, Sight and Sound performed an enhanced version of the Moses story once again.
Many days while I performed my work I listened to the sounds of the actors singing in a room below where I sat.
This deliverance story became part of me as tears often ran down my face.
On a nearly daily basis, I would step into the theater to get a brief glimpse of the actors practicing.
God began to impress upon my heart that He was fully aware of the sea shore to which He brought me and He emphasized that He brought me to this point so He can bring me out in His timing and in His unique way.
There was a distinct emphasis to trust Him whether I could see or not.
Proverbs says it best:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT)
I had the opportunity to see the live production of Moses three times last year and each time my eyes welled with tears as the music overtook me and the deliverance of God’s people was very real to me because He made it my story.
The parting of the Red Sea is not some cute story mentioned in a dusty book. It is a story with real life application stamped all over it.
As I wrote about last month, there have been some recent health challenges in my life.
Red Sea uncertainties surely existed with the onset of this twist in the road.
Life and death uncertainties.
What’s next uncertainties.
Financial uncertainties.
The whole ball of wax.
Since I last posted, I have undergone a procedure (thoracentesis) on two occasions to remove approximately 3,000 ml of fluid from around my left lung which compromised my ability to breathe normally and caused an incessant, acute cough.
Around the time of this recent event in my life, one of my daughter’s gifted me a copy of a book, Waymaker by Ann Voskamp.
It was a perfectly timed Red Sea reminder and a lifeline tossed to me to once again yield to the way of trusting God when the evidence around me said otherwise.
The back cover of the book hits the nail squarely on the head:
“How do you find a way forward in your one and only life when life isn’t turning out the way you dreamed?…Your dreams…Your disappointments…Your hopes…Your heartaches…There is no controlling life’s storms…there is only learning the way to walk through the waves.”
In the book Ann mentions a conversation with her friend, Ellie Holcomb, who wrote a song entitled Red Sea Road to encourage her friend. This song became an anthem for Ann as she experienced her own set of questions and uncertainties. The song helped her to discover the path forward.
My prayer is that a small portion Ellie’s lyrics are an encouragement to you:
So we will sing, to our souls.
We won’t bury our hope.
Where He leads us to go.
There’s a Red Sea Road.
When we can’t, see the way.
He will part the waves.
And we’ll never walk alone.
Down a Red Sea Road.
During this decade-long season of hearing Red Sea Whispers, the Father has forged in me a deep seated trust that He will show up and show off on my behalf.
If you are like me, my guess is you prefer mountain-top experiences to the loneliness of the wilderness places in which we often find ourselves. The heartache, uncertainty, and isolation wear on us.
However, it is in the wilderness moments where God speaks most emphatically.
It is quiet and intimate., where our hearing is heightened.
It is a place where we can choose to surrender and yield control to Him.
He is fully aware of where we are and He has a unique plan to bring us through on our personal Red Sea Road.
My prayer is that you can sing a song similar as the Israelites as they walked out on the Red Sea Road.
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord,
for he has triumphed gloriously;
he has hurled both horse and rider
into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.
This is my God, and I will praise him—
my father’s God, and I will exalt him!”
(Exodus 15:1-2 NLT)