by Sheri Schofield
It was rodeo season here in Helena. The bulls, heads tossing, bodies bucking and jumping, were trying to shed the riders from their backs. Suddenly, the sky was splashed with vivid red, purple and gold in the most magnificent sunset I have ever seen! The crowd gasped . . . and it wasn’t because of the bull rider in the ring. It was because of the glory God had spread across the sky behind the rider.
Moses and the Israelites had that kind of moment.
After a long, drawn-out dispute punctuated by God’s intervention, Pharaoh had released the Israelite slaves. They quickly moved out of the land of their captivity right up to the edge of the Red Sea. They must have wondered: what now? Would they go around it? There were so many of them!
Meanwhile, back in Egypt, Pharaoh had changed his mind. A large dust cloud rose behind the Israelites announcing the approach of Pharaoh’s great army. Seeing it, the people gasped in horror. Would they be slaughtered? After all that had happened, would they now be taken back into slavery?
Terrified, the people cried out to Moses: “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? 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” (Exodus 14:11-14, NIV).
The pillar of cloud (by day, fire by night) that had gone before them in their exodus now moved behind them, keeping a distance between the Israelites and the approaching army. Talk about glory in the sky! It certainly stopped the Egyptians in their tracks!
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. All night, as the pillar of fire stood between Israel and the Egyptians, the Lord swept the sea back with a strong east wind, creating a dry path through the divided sea. The entire nation of Israel crossed over in the night. As the sun rose, the cloud lifted, and Pharaoh’s army raced after them. Moses, now on the opposite shore, once again stretched out his hand, and the waves crashed down on the Egyptian charioteers, destroying every one of them.
Sometimes I feel like I’m in crisis, like a rider on the back of an angry bull or like the Israelites with the sea in front and the Egyptian army at their back. But then God’s glory is splashed across my life! He intervenes in ways that cannot be humanly explained. My spirit lights up with his power. The difficulty parts before me, like the sea parted for Israel, and God makes a way for me, a way that is clearly his doing. God’s message is the same to me as it was to Israel: “You need only to be still.”
I am content to be still – to wait on God’s intervention. For then I will see his glory splash across my path.
. . .This is what the Lord says, “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.” 2 Chronicles 20:15 NIV
About the author: Children’s ministry veteran Sheri Schofield was unexpectedly called on to save her husband’s life, a battle that took her to the Pentagon, Congress, National Security and the President of the United States. At her website, www.SheriSchofield.com, she shares this journey in her book One Step Ahead of the Devil. Sheri’s new book, The Prince And The Plan, was launched June 1. It is designed to help parents lead their children into a saving relationship with Jesus.
Join the conversation: How has God splashed His glory across your life?
Photo by Piotr Wilk on Unsplash