Arguing With God on the Banks of the Red Sea

 That’s it.  We’re doomed.

What do you mean?

I mean, we did what we thought we were supposed to do.  We packed up everything, just like you told us, and followed you.   You said you’d deliver us.  And here we are, trapped between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea.  There’s no way out.

You mean, you don’t see a way out.

That’s because there isn’t one.  There’s no bridge.  There’s nothing here we could use to build a bridge even if anyone had the foggiest idea about how to go about doing that.  No matter which way I look at this, no matter how many times I turn this thing over in my brain, I just can’t figure a way out of this mess.  And there’s no time.  The Egyptians are right here, right on top of us.  We can feel their hot, stinking breath on the backs of our necks.  It’s hopeless.  We’re doomed.

So you admit you’re helpless?  There’s nothing you can do to save yourself?

Isn’t that obvious?

Sometimes I need to make things just that obvious before you’ll hear what I’ve been trying to tell you all along:  Apart from me you can do nothing.

So then, what am I supposed to do?  It feels like I should be doing something.

Stand still and see my deliverance.

And just how’s that supposed to work?

Moses, my servant, will raise his arms and then I will send a strong wind to the divide the sea.  You will pass through the waters on dry ground.

Huh.  I would not have thought of that.

Only because it’s impossible.  At least for you.  And you keep insisting that the only solutions I have to offer are those you can see and imagine.  You don’t see the way out because you can’t imagine all that I am able to do.  With me, nothing is impossible.  I made the wind; I made the water.  I can tell them to do whatever I want.  They obey me.  And I am able to do abundantly more than you can ask, think, or imagine.   I didn’t bring you here expecting you to figure everything out on your own.

Then why did you bring me here?  What am I supposed to do now?

Follow me through the water.

But how do I know that when I get into the middle of the river bed, you won’t release the water and send it crashing over me to destroy me?

Why would I do that?

Because you can.  And because I know I deserve it.  I don’t deserve to have you reaching down into creation, disrupting the natural order of things just to protect me.  I’m not worthy.  I complain too much.  I lack faith.  I lie, cheat, and steal.  I am unloving, impatient, unkind.  I care more about the things of this world more than I do about you.  You have every reason to turn your back on me, to give up on me, to withdraw your love.  You would be perfectly justified in unleashing those waters and allowing them to consume me.

You think I’m doing this for you because you deserve it?  You don’t.  I’m doing this because I promised I would.  I said I would deliver you, and it is impossible for me to go back on my word.  I have sworn by myself and will carry on to completion everything I said I would do.  Has any one of my good promises ever failed?

And haven’t I told you, I love you?  My love for you has nothing to do with what you deserve; I love you because it pleases me to I love you.  I have loved you with an everlasting love.  My love for you can never end because it never began.  There was no time when my love for you didn’t exist.  It always has been; it always will be.  My love never fails.

So now what?

Trust.  Believe.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.  Follow me, one step at a time.