The picture we have in Exodus of God leading his people by the pillar of fire and cloud through the desert gives us some valuable insights into the life of faith. As Christians we also have a pillar of fire/cloud but not as the Israelites had it. God’s presence dwells within us and guides us from within in accordance with the testimony of his written word. To live by faith means that we allow God to order our steps rather than what seems most expedient or desirable to us. Sometimes it may seem that God leads us to the very brink of disaster and, in these times, we might well question the wisdom of God’s leading and turn to our own devices. This was the case when God led his people to the edge of the Red Sea. Pharaoh was pursuing them and they had nowhere to escape. They were sitting ducks, hemmed in by the desert and the sea. We know, as readers, that it was even God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he was poised to wipe them all out. This is a strange kind of leading and seemingly absurd providence. However, it is often in the most extreme circumstances that we experience God’s hand most distinctly and powerfully and this was the case with the Israelites. God brought them here to show them something about himself and about the life of faith. What follows is the most celebrated miracle in the Old Testament: the parting of the sea. If you feel hemmed in and run down, keep trusting in God. He will show you his faithfulness.
Entrust your ways to God.
Read Exodus 13:17-22.
