The people are celebrating, their songs and arms rising. Yahweh had come. The gods of Egypt were dismantled, and the kingdom of Egypt fractured. After 400 years of slavery, they were finally free. Can you hear the giggles bursting from children's lips? Do you see the tears falling on wrinkled cheeks? As night descends, their laughter sinks into confusion. Their joy crumbles as they look around. Mountains mock them on either side. The sea surges before them and the Egyptian army rages behind them. There, on the banks of the Red Sea, God’s people have nowhere to go and nowhere to hide.
But, why? Why would God lead them to a dead-end? Had their Deliverer delivered them onto death’s doorstep? Had God freed them only to forsake them?
Exodus 14:14
“Fear not, Moses. Stand firm. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
This isn’t the silent night they were expecting. What do we do when God takes us down detours and leads us to dead ends? What do we do when happily-ever-after turns into wish-it-never-happened?
Exodus 14:19-20
Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
Do you see Him? The angel of the Lord, the pre-incarnate Christ, He’s with them. And He stands between His people and their enemies. He lights up the night and He stands by to fight.
He lit up the night with His coming.
Things are always better seen through backward glances. The psalmist gives us a hindsight view.
Psalm 77:19
Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.
What good news for the downtrodden, the hope-fallen, the heart-leaden! Do you see it? His footprints were already there. He’d already gone through that turbulent sea. He wasn’t leading them somewhere where He had not been and where He would not be. Although hidden by their fear within them and the darkness around them, those footprints were there—leading them home. And home, they would later discover, was not far away. For it wasn't a destination He was leading them to, but to His presence. He was right there with them, dwelling in their midst and fighting on their behalf. His footprints were not leading to a fairy tale come true but to the nail-scarred hands of a Savior come down.
Were they ready for Him? Were they ready to give what freedom would cost? They would need to leave the false gods of the Egyptians behind. They would need to leave their efforts, excuses, and egos on the shore.
Would following His way be worth it?
Another silent night ... still a desperate world. Mountains of sin---insurmountable. A raging enemy---undefeatable. A sea of fear---uncrossable. Into this world, fire descended — that silent, holy night when God’s presence came down again.
God Himself, swathed in skin.
And He lit up the night with His coming.
The light in the darkness, the way through the sea, the path through the great waters. He’d come to make a way — a way to peace, to truth, and to life. He’s the way through the night, the way across the sea, and the way back to God.
Sometimes, God’s footprints are unseen. Sometimes, the road leads through unchartered waters and unforeseen detours. May we have eyes to see the unseen and the faith to follow where He leads. As the towering mountains loom above us, the raging enemy prowls behind us, and the murky waters threaten before us, we must decide. Will following His way be worth it?
There’s no turning back. The God who makes a way is making a way right now. Right through your fear. Right through your roadblocks, rubble, and ruin. He's the way-maker and the heart-healer.
But a word of caution. While He is the God who makes a way, we must remember He’s not here to give us our way. If we go His way then we must give up having our way. And we’ll find His way is not the way of fairy tales and happily ever afters but the way of submission, sacrifice, and surrender. Perhaps the silent night we need this Christmas is not one where the world around us is quiet, but one where the fear within has nothing left to say. Like Moses, will we silence our demands, our doubts, and our dread and stand firm because we know Yahweh stands by?
Are we willing to dismantle the gods who sit on the tiny thrones of our hearts and minds? Are we willing to trust, that even though we can’t see them, there are unseen footprints leading us, not to dreams come true, but to hearts made holy?
One day we’ll look back and see things in hindsight. We’ll see those unseen footprints. We’ll see how He was there, making a way. He’s the light in our darkest night. He’s the way, the truth, and the life.
He’s here. God near us. God with us. God in us. Jesus, our Immanuel.
The question is … what false gods need to be dismantled in your life? Where do you need to look for God’s unseen footprints in the detours, dead-ends, and delays of your life?
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