A few years back I was driving to church to prepare for that evening’s Vacation Bible School. I had three of my own kids, plus two of my nieces in tow, all of whom were enjoying the Vacation Bible School songs so much that they were on replay. Everyone was enjoying the sing-along (enjoying may be a strong word for what I was experiencing). When we approached an intersection nothing was out of the ordinary except there were several flashing police lights on the opposite side of the road. As I craned my head to see what was going on I felt a jolt. Needless to say, the light had turned red and I had just hit the car in front of me. I was distracted, and not looking where I was going, instead I was focused on something else.
There is no hiding it, our nation and our world is experiencing turmoil and lots of it. It is very easy to get distracted and have our focus shifted. I am reminded of the Israelites as they left Egypt. They began their journey into the wilderness and into the promised land by focusing on God and the pillars he provided them to lead the way. We all know the story of how God delivered them from Pharaoh’s army and how he parted the sea. However, something interesting and pertinent to today’s climate happened just before this famous story.
Exodus 14 tells us that God led the people to sea in a very sporadic route. He did this by leading them the same way he had been leading them from the beginning with a pillar of fire and smoke. Vs 10 tells us that as the Egyptians drew near, the Israelites “looked and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them and they became very frightened…”. Did you catch it? They “looked” and then became frightened. These are the same people who had just experienced the actual passover and could physically see the pillars of smoke and fire. They took their attention off of God and His power and placed it onto something of this world.
Our world today has many many problems and we should not ignore them. However, we should address every situation with our focus on the One who holds the power to redeem our fallen world.
- Clint Percefull