Trusting the Harness

Scripture: Exodus 14:14 – “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.” (NRSVUE)

When we think of God’s greatest miracles, the parting of the Red Sea is toward the top of the list.

With the Egyptians about to overtake them, the Israelite slaves are amazed as God parts the sea and allows them to walk on dry land to safety. Freedom, which seemed so impossible, has been delivered. The people’s celebration still rings out thousands of years later.

Our Bible celebrates the victory of God over the forces of exploitation, but there is a moment in the story that is easily overlooked. When the Pharaoh’s chariots are chasing them down, the Israelites begin to panic. But they don’t cry out for God to save them. They start pointing fingers and blaming Moses. They say, “We told you so! It would have been better to serve that be slaughtered!” But Moses calls for the people to stand firm and let God perform the miracle. All they have to do is have the trust that salvation is possible.

How many times have we been on the precipice of something great, and we have chickened out? How many times have things gotten difficult when we have taken risks and instead of pushing through, we start playing the blame game? Change is difficult and frightening. We have so much to lose when we take chances, so we grasp at anything that might prevent us from taking that risk. We turn away instead of trusting God.

I remember when I was on a ropes course with my children. I was having a great time. I liked walking bridges and going down the zip lines from one platform to the other. Now, if you have ever been on a ropes course, you know that there is a lot of safety equipment. You wear a harness and there is a procedure for transferring the harness from one set of ropes to the other. Even if something goes wrong, the harness will save you.

But this ropes course ended a little differently. At the end, instead of just getting off, I finished on a platform about eight feet off the ground. The instructor said that all we had to do was step off and the rope would slow our descent. We would be perfectly safe. But even though had flung myself down ziplines and walked over narrow ropes dozens of feet above the ground, this was what terrified me. I had a clenching in my stomach, and it was like my body refused to move. I would have done anything for another zipline, or even a ladder. But I had to do what I had to do and I jumped. Of course, after a painless jerk, I was fine. I took off the harness and went on with my day.

My body did not want to take that risk. It said, “this is certain death!” But I put my trust in the things that had gotten me that far.

I think that the Israelites probably felt that same physical level of panic. Anything to avoid their fate, even if it meant self-sabotage and turning on each other. But the message of the Red Sea story is that no one wins the blame game. We as individuals have gotten through our lives with the grace of a God of love who walks beside us, the God who had gotten us this far. But when we must take a risk to get us out of a difficult situation, a deep part of ourselves wants to flee. And if the world is shifting around us, and we have change what we have always done to thrive or survive, it is so easy to doubt God’s grace, to doubt the harnesses we have been wearing the whole time and give up at the last minute.

I have seen this pattern in churches, and I have seen it with people. I think this is what requires the greatest amount of faith, not recognizing God’s providence when things are good and not even accepting God’s presence in times of grief. Faith in God means ignoring that clenching in your stomach and silencing the “what if” questions that echo through our brains. Reluctantly, the Israelites believed. They experienced a saving transformation that has been celebrated through the centuries.

I doubt that you will fall into such a situation, but remember this. When we step forward with God and work through our fears, great things are possible when we believe.

Prayer: God, grant me courage so that I may trust your grace even when I am scared of loss. Amen.

Image credit: https://www.skagwayalaskatours.com/