THE LORD WILL FIND A WAY
The Lord has always found different ways to take care of his people - ways that may have seemed “impossible” at the time. When he destroyed the entire world with a flood, he managed to save eight believers and hundreds of animals in a homemade boat floating on top of the water for 150 days. Years later when the Arameans surrounded the city of Dothan just to capture Elisha the prophet, the Lord struck every soldier of that the army with blindness and Elisha himself ended up leading them to another town where he fed them and then sent them home. When the entire Assyrian army besieged Jerusalem during the days of King Hezekiah, the Lord struck down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night, forcing the invaders to withdraw from the land of Israel early the next morning when they saw what the Lord had done. But perhaps the most well-known “impossible” act of preservation that the Lord carried out for his people was the famous crossing of the Red Sea on dry ground when God delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh and the Egyptians. And it’s probably well-known not only because it was a spectacular miracle and one of the first acts of deliverance he performed for the nation of Israel, but also because the people were completely out of options by the time the Lord miraculously intervened. They had no weapons, they were not trained in war, and 2/3 of them were women and children. They could not turn and fight, but they couldn’t run away either because the sea blocked their only escape. It was a situation that seemed hopeless. They were either going to be slaughtered or taken back to Egypt as slaves. There looked to be no other possible outcome. But then God asked Moses to raise his hands over the water, the sea split apart with walls of water standing up on both sides, and about two million Israelites crossed through the sea on dry ground. And, of course, when the Egyptians themselves tried to cross over after them, the Lord withdrew his hand and the waters of the sea came crashing down upon their heads. Not one soldier escaped and God’s people were saved. The Lord did the impossible. He found a way.
After this incredible event is described for us in the book of Exodus, it is referred to no less than 18 different times by the Lord and the prophets and the psalms as an example of the Lord’s power and love. The rescue through the Red Sea became the epitome of how the Lord finds ways to save his people despite the odds. Isaiah 43 is one of those instances in which the Lord points back to this event in Israelite history to make that very point. But when you listen to this portion of Scripture again, pay attention to the reason why the Lord makes references to this famous incident from the past. “This is what the LORD says — he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.’”
What does the Lord say here about this legendary rescue from the Red Sea? “Forget it! Don’t bother bringing it up again as an example of my power and love! Because you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! The path I made through the sea and the watery death I sent upon the Egyptians is nothing compared to the path I will make through the desert and the water of life I will give to my people to drink.” This “new thing” that the Lord would do would be much more spectacular than anything he had ever done in the past. This new “way” in which he would save his people would be incomparable to any way he had saved his people before. He would once again do the impossible, but it would be unlike anything anyone had ever seen.
To the east of the Promised Land sits the Arabian Desert. It covers almost one million sq. miles of the Arabian Peninsula - that’s about the size of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah combined. One third of this expanse is covered in nothing but sand. Temperatures can reach 122 degrees during the summer and during winter nights those numbers can drop below freezing. Much of this desert is considered to be impassable and it is said to be one of the most inhospitable regions on earth. Back in the days of the Old Testament Israelites, few people traveled across this desert to reach the eastern peoples on the other side; and those from the east usually didn’t attempt the journey either. In fact, if an eastern army wanted to reach Israel or a group from the west wanted to go to Babylon and beyond, they would usually go up and around the desert, adding on an extra 100 miles to their journey just to avoid the dangers that this desolate territory presented. With this in mind, listen to God’s promise one more time, “I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland to give drink to my people, my chosen.” The significance of these words was not lost on the Israelites. The Lord would do the impossible. He would find a way. He would make a path through the desert for an entire nation. He would create streams through the wasteland so that his people would be able to drink their fill. And this physical picture was not merely a prophecy about their return from exile in the country of Babylon; this was a pronouncement of their spiritual restoration in Christ. Because in the very next chapter the Lord says some strikingly similar words, “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants” (44:3). The Lord would miraculously save his people once again - he would save their souls. And we are miraculously saved in exactly the same way.
We were in the middle of the Arabian Desert, so to speak. We were in an impossible situation. We didn’t know where to turn. We didn’t know what to do. In fact, we didn’t even know that we needed help! And it all started from the beginning: we were descendants from the very first sinners, Adam and Eve, and so we were naturally infused with corruption from the start. And not only that, but we committed our own sins and our own offenses from the moment we were born. The Bible says that these sins separated us from God, we were enemies of God because of our unbelief, we were spiritual corpses on account of our transgressions, and we were in complete spiritual darkness without a single ray of hope. We were in a situation that provided no way out. And so the Lord found a way. He found a way in which to rescue us. He found a way to make a path through the desert and provide a stream through the wasteland. He found a way to give us a drink. That “way” happened to be “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” of Christ. And that drink was the salvation he won for us on the cross.
“Whoever drinks the water I give him,” Jesus said, “will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). That spring of water that wells up to eternal life is faith in Jesus as our Savior. It is trust in his cross, forgiveness through his death, and hope instilled by his resurrection. Jesus really did the impossible! He saved us when no one else could. A normal human being could never have gone through the suffering that needed to be paid or die a death that would count for the deaths of all others. But on the other hand, God himself couldn’t die because he did not have a mortal body that he could sacrifice. And so Jesus found a way. He as true God also became a real human being. He fulfilled the requirements on both sides and won our salvation through his birth and eternity, his suffering and his perfect, his death and resurrection.
But there was still another problem that needed to be solved: we would never believe it on our own. We as sinful human beings would never place our trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins if it were up to us. We were too corrupt. We were to sinfully saturated. And so Jesus once again found a way. He had his Word written down and preserved over the centuries and then he sent his Holy Spirit to work in our hearts through that Word to give us the gift of faith. He bypassed our stubbornness in a way. He knew we weren’t going to ask for his salvation. He knew we weren’t going to be able to do anything for it. In fact, he knew we weren’t even going to want it. And so he convinced our hearts through the power of his gospel to take a drink of that living water so we could live forever. Jesus did the impossible. Jesus found a way.
Remember that tomorrow and remember that next week and remember that next year when you are confronted with a situation that seems completely hopeless. The Lord will find a way. When your back is up against the wall, when your money has run out, when all your options have been taken away, when you are left all alone, when your relationship with your loved one is in shambles, when your health failing, when you don’t know where to turn, when you don’t know what to do, the Lord will find a way. He always has for his people; he always will. He will find a way to protect you or to provide for you. He will find a way to comfort you or to heal you. He will find a way to love you. Because loving you is what he loves doing. And that’s what he does best.
Has the Lord ever failed to find a way? He split the Red Sea in half when his people needed him to do it. He struck down entire armies in one breath when his people needed him to do it. He personally came down to this earth in the womb of a virgin girl impregnated by the Holy Spirit when his people needed him to do it. God himself sacrificed his body on the cross when his people needed him to do it. He made a path in the desert, he sent a stream through the wasteland, he gave us a drink when we needed him to do it. The Lord has always found a way. And if he doesn’t find one, he makes one. Because he is the Lord and he will make sure that his will is done. And his will is that you are taken care of - especially for the life to come. Live this life with the comfort of knowing that you are in good hands. You are in the Lord’s hands. And he will do the impossible if that is what it takes. He will find a way.
Amen.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.” - Eph. 3:20-21
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