Good Morning All,
Do you remember that song by Simon and
Garfunkel called “Sounds of Silence?” It
is a very plaintive song about a person who feels that he is completely
isolated from anyone and everyone. In
the process of this event, he feels the cold and damp weather while seeing
people who are talking but he doesn’t hear anything because they are speaking
to him. He feels lost and without hope.
That is how the Israelites found themselves
while they were in captivity in Egypt.
They were isolated from their land and were alone in a foreign land,
enslaved by their cruel taskmasters.
They sat in bondage and cried to God to save them. Even as they prayed, God seemed distant and
unhearing. The Egyptians continued to
beat them and crush their spirit, crush their hope.
There are times in our life when we
probably feel the same way. Perhaps it
is waiting for the results from a doctor’s visit. You know, one of those visits where cancer is
still a possibility. Or maybe even worse
is when the doctor just scratches his head and says, “I just don’t know.” Perhaps your boss keeps talking about
“downsizing” or “re-structuring.” Maybe
it’s been more than a year of hearing, “we aren’t hiring right now.” I visited with a young man whose family just
showed him the door, gave him a suitcase, and then closed and locked the door;
how far away is God there? These are but
a few examples, you can probably add some of your own. The thing is God is never far away; we just
don’t always see it clearly.
In our verse, God was at work for the
Israelites at a very dark time in their existence. The only life that they knew was
slavery. Then, miraculously, they were
freed by the Egyptian Pharaoh only to have him change his mind and then begin
to chase them through the desert. Maybe
you have felt that way. Some pain just
seems to chase after us. It seems that
many of us have some form of an addiction.
It doesn’t have to be to a chemical, like drugs or alcohol, it might be
a feeling or an inclination to a mood.
It might be that nagging desire to gossip or envy your neighbor. Or it might be that constant feeling that,
deep down, you don’t think you are good enough.
This can be dark times.
Yet our verse gives us a clue into our
God. He used the very creation that is
his to save his people. The winds pushed
back the sea to form dry land. The
Israelites were saved from the Egyptians and their slavery. God does the same thing for us; he uses his
creation, simple and plain, for our good.
He uses water connected with his Word to cleanse us of our sin and he
uses bread and wine tied to his Word to nourish our spirit and to refresh our
soul. Yet he also uses the beauty of a
flower or the freshness of a summer rain to give us comfort. He uses the members of his church to console
us as we need. We don’t always “see” or
“feel” God active in our life but he is.
Father, thank you for the blessing of today and the promise of
tomorrow. In Jesus’ precious name we
pray. Amen
God’s Peace,
Pastor
Bret
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