Red Sea Moments Help Us Experience The Reality Of God

I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.
–Isaiah 43:19

In Isaiah 43:2, God promises us, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.” When is God with us? Through the water, through the flood, through the fire—that is when we see the reality of God.

Craig Phelps and his family learned that lesson the hard way. Craig, his wife, and their five children were in a van traveling late one night in a remote part of Texas. Craig did not see the oncoming truck, and the truck driver did not see Craig. The resulting collision threw all five of their children from the van.

Craig and his wife searched the field, looking for their children. They found them one by one, but when they stumbled upon their nine-year-old son, Jeremy, he was not crying. Craig saw that Jeremy’s neck had been broken. Craig tried to revive Jeremy, but he was unsuccessful.

Later, he recalled a strong sense of God telling him to take care of his other children until help arrived. They waited until an ambulance was able to make its way to that remote location.

The next morning Craig’s brother-in-law, Don Moen, was traveling on an airplane to the funeral. He was overcome with grief over what had happened to his family. He opened his Bible to that chapter mentioned earlier, Isaiah 43. And his eyes went down to verse 19, in which God said, “Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.”

As Don read that scripture, God gave him a song, and he began to write it down. After the funeral service, Don went up to Craig and his family. He embraced them and explained his experience on the plane the day before, about how God had given him a special song from Isaiah 43. He asked Craig, “Would it be okay if I sang it for you right now?” The family agreed. So Don sang the song he had just composed: “God Will Make A Way.”

And that is how a worship song that has brought comfort to millions of Christians around the world came to be written. One of God’s servants, overcome by grief, came to realize that God’s plan is not to lead us away from our problems or around our problems–but God leads us through our problems to the other side. And it is in our Red Sea moments that we can most clearly see the reality and the power of God.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Seizing Your Red Sea Moment” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2005.

Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.