Our family went through a very long season that I refer to as the year of unknown. We woke up every day not knowing if this would be the one where we lost everything. Would we make it through? The only way we could was by the hand of Jesus. Nothing else could do it. We could not save ourselves this time. We had no choice but to turn to him each day to give us what we needed to make it. Just when it looked like there was no way out, he made the way. Jesus gave us the miracle we had been crying out for. It was our real-life “parting of the Red Sea” moment.
God had given the Israelites a great miracle just when they needed it too. God had led them out of slavery in Egypt when they came to a sea with an army chasing after them. Just as death was about to overtake them, God made a way where there wasn’t one and they walked through to safety on dry ground.
Our miracle came 6 months ago. We have been walking on dry ground ever since. I have no desire to go back to the year of unknown, but there are some things I will be taking with me from that season. Things like the mindset to make the most of every moment and remembering that accomplishment doesn’t matter as much as being with the people you love. Most of all, I want to continue to wake up every day and choose to depend on my God to make it through. My previous circumstances gave me no choice, I had to turn to God for my daily mana. There was no other way I could get what I needed. It was in God’s hands alone, much like the Israelites in the desert only getting what they needed from the God who handed it to them. Yet, my circumstances no longer demanded this. I made it out of the desert. We are living in our Promised Land now, and the lie that I can make it through the day on my own is louder than ever. On this side of the winning battle, there is a bit of fear in me that I will forget, that I will turn back to my own self-sufficiency.
But how do we not? When all is right in the world, when we have all we need, when we’re comfortable and full and happy, how do we choose to depend on God to make it through our days when it feels like we can get through on our own?
We remember, and we celebrate.
Before making it into the Promised Land, the Israelites’ leader transitioned from Moses to Joshua. God had used Moses to lead his people out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, but Joshua was called to lead them now. Under Joshua’s leadership, once again they came to a body of water. As the people approached the Jordan River, God told the priests to go in first with the ark of the covenant, the very presence of God with his people. As the priests stepped into the water with the ark, the river stopped flowing. God’s people once again crossed safely on dry ground. God told Joshua to call 12 men to each grab a stone from the river as they crossed. When all the people had made it safely to the other side, the waters began to flow again. The 12 stones were stacked in camp as a reminder to the people and their children for generations that the God who had been with them from the very beginning wasn’t going anywhere.
For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.
Joshua 4:23-24
God knows how easily we forget. That’s why he’s constantly giving his people ways to remember. They’ve come in the form of celebrating the Passover, of stacked stones, of communion, of the very scriptures themselves. As God’s, we are a people called to remember. We must continue to tell each other the stories of the faithfulness of our God. We must continue to celebrate the God who chose us and led us through on dry ground when there was absolutely no way on our own. We must not be the people who forget and turn back to our own self-sufficiency. When we don’t have to depend on God, we choose to. Sure, we may be able to make it through the day, but we can do absolutely nothing of eternal significance on our own.
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