There is Always a Way
“Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters—a pathway no one knew was there” (Ps 77:19 NLT).
The Psalmist was probably confronting an intractable situation when he penned this particular poem. From the beginning of this Psalm he was obviously feeling somewhat abandoned by the Lord. Following his laments, he then began to recall how magnificent God was in all his creation and to recount his wonderful deeds through the years while finally arriving at the Lord’s miraculous deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage. Our Psalmist recognized how the children of Israel were faced with an impossible predicament while all the time God’s solution was clearly predetermined. Although no one could see it, the way through the mighty waters already existed.
As we study the history of Israel following their journey through the wilderness on their travels to the Promised Land, we realize they were challenged numerous times with what appeared to be unsolvable conditions. In our Bible study we learned how the Lord allowed various trials to test the faith and perseverance of His chosen people. God was already knowing how He would resolve these problems as part of his eternal plan from the beginning.
Today we are very much like the Israel of the Old Testament. We are the new Israel, the new people of God. And like our spiritual forefathers, our faith is also put to the test. “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold.” Our Heavenly Father places such an enormous value on our belief, our obedience, our faith, that He is willing to subject it to various trying circumstances and conditions in order to refine it to its greatest extent. Will we remain faithful and obedient regardless of what we may encounter on our journey unto the full stature life in Christ?
In our responses to the many exacting circumstances we encounter through life, we tend to see and evaluate them as good or bad. In doing so, we basically govern our responses accordingly. If the conditions or circumstances are what we deem as bad or certainly undesirable, we usually do what we can to eradicate them from our lives giving little thought to the possibility of there being any other meaning in the present situation. We seldom seem to view life circumstances as something permitted by God as potentially qualifying factors in our lives.
We know that the Lord does not create evil or even cause it to exist, but it is obvious that He will allow so called bad things or circumstances to occur in our lives when it agrees with His eternal purpose. Trusting God then means—God will only allow in my life that which is for my eternal preparation and fulfillment. When the Israelites were without water, the Lord gave them water from the rock. When food was no longer available, He gave them manna from heaven. Later they also had what appeared to be quail. Their clothing and shoes didn’t wear out for all the years they spent in the wilderness. God’s provision is always geared toward His ultimate purpose for whomever He is dealing with. For Israel, it was the Promised Land.
Our takeaway from this part of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt is knowing that God always has a preconceived solution, a way through, any possible situation we may find ourselves confronting. Our part is in discerning what it is that the Lord wants to accomplish in our lives and cooperate with Him in seeing that happen. It is most helpful in knowing that God never has to second guess or reconceive a situation, but also in knowing that even though there is always a planned outcome, a pathway, it’s a pathway “…no one knew was there.”
