Standing safely on dry ground





 

 

In the midst of a drought, residents are putting up with parched, brown lawns. Yet to a person of faith, dry land can be a good thing.

The ancient Israelites, when fleeing from their Egyptian slave masters, craved dry land. They escaped with Pharaoh’s soldiers hot on their tails and found their route blocked by the Red Sea. The people asked Moses, their leader: Did God bring us all this way only to let us drown?

But God told Moses to stretch out his hand over Shulthe waters and the sea split intogra two,e “so that the Israelites renteredOURS into the midst of the sea on dry land with the water as a wall to their right and to their left” (Exodus 14:22).

Notice the seabed was dry— not moist, damp or muddy—perfect for a quick walk. No soggy sandals for these believers! And the water remained abated until every person and animal reached the other side. But once they were safe, the waters reverted back to the natural flow and drowned the pursuing soldiers. No dry land for the evildoers.

In a lesser-known story (one that was not made into a major Hollywood movie) the Israelites again encountered a liquid obstacle. Forty years after the Red Sea exodus, the chosen people faced the Jordan River, the final barrier before reaching the promised land. They couldn’t simply wade across—the river was overflowing its banks, due to the winter rains and melting mountain snowpack.

At God’s command, the religious leaders carried the ark of the covenant (a sacred box that represented God’s presence) into the swollen water. When their feet hit the river, the water stopped flowing.

“The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the Jordan riverbed while all of Israel crossed on dry ground until the whole nation had completed the crossing of the Jordan” (Joshua 3:15). Once again, not one soul was lost in the river crossing.

One has to admire the stamina and dedication of the priests who stood still while bearing a heavy gold-plated chest until thousands of people and animals crossed over at a leisurely pace.

One more story has two men crossing the Jordan River by extraordinary means. The prophet Elijah had finished his ministry on Earth and would soon pass on his power to Elisha. When they reached the river, “Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; it divided and the two of them crossed over onto dry ground” (2 Kings 2:8).

A short time later, after Elijah had departed for heaven in a chariot of fire, Elisha picked up the same robe the prophet had left behind. Elisha used the cloak to stop the river a second time (2 Kings 2:14).

In these stories, the people of God needed to pass through hindrances in their lives to reach a greater good—freedom from slavery, possession of a homeland and, for Elisha, the start of a new ministry. Rather than letting the people avoid the problems, God made the people confront the rough waters.

The water didn’t part by the efforts of the people; Moses’ arm, the ark and the mantle were visible reminders of God’s intervention and care.

Also, the people had to do the work of walking forward in faith that the waters would not start flowing again halfway along the path—people in partnership with God.

We often want to pass over the terrible things that block our way to happiness—sickness, tragedies, death. In the midst of calamity, however, God will provide dry land to walk on as well as new possibilities and hope.

Sometimes these obstacles are necessary to prod us into a new direction, to build character or to produce a deeper reliance on God.

On your daily walk, may your feet always find that dry land of security.


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