Messengers

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. (Exodus 14:21-22)

The opening passage describes the moment that God showed up out-of-nowhere and helped the Israelites escape the wrath of Pharaoh. You might have heard the story before - how Moses was called by God to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt. The entire journey is an incredible testament to God's goodness, mercy, power, love, and justice. But it's also a great example of how God will show up exactly when you need Him to, sort of like a messenger pin shows up right at the very last second.

What is a messenger pin? For those of you that don't know, I've been bowling for sport/recreation since middle school. One of my favorite moments in the sport is when your ball hits the pins leaving one pin standing...but SUDDENLY from seemingly out-of-nowhere a random pin fires back across the lane, taking out the lonely pin. It's a fun moment and always makes for great reactions from audiences and the people you're bowling with. These savior-like pins are called 'messengers.' Here's a YouTube compilation I found for the visual learners out there.

I love thinking about God the same way I do messenger pins. Just imagine how Moses and the Hebrew people might have felt showing up at the Red Sea. They were probably confused, stressed, and wondering, "But why God?! Why would you take us all the way here just to be trapped and fall victim to Pharaoh?" You see, God is rarely going to have the Red Sea parted prior to your arrival. In fact, God is more likely to tell you to go somewhere or do something that requires you to have faith in Him once you're there.

One example is how God told Abraham to go sacrifice Isaac, his son. Abraham was probably confused and wrestling with this command, but He went through the motions to obey God, hoping that God would mercifully show up at the very last minute to save his son. And God did show up, but literally not until the knife was already in Abraham's hand. Last minute. Like a messenger pin.

Another example is when Elijah was instructed by God to prepare an altar for a burnt sacrifice, but that he was supposed to drench the firewood with water three times. Any rational-thinking person would have responded, "Um, but the wood will be soaked? There's no way it will catch fire!" But of course, Elijah went through with it, with full confidence that God would do exactly what He said. And the outcome was that the altar did catch fire after Elijah had prayed and asked God to showcase His true power so that the witnesses would believe. Elijah could have looked like a fool, but at the last minute, God showed up with fire from heaven which consumed all the water, wood and the sacrifice.

There is hope in waiting. There is hope in obeying God.

Messenger pins don't always fly across the lane. They fly across the lane when the ball hits the pins a certain way. Bowlers can do very little to control when they occur. The truth is, we can't control God either. We can't make Him show up. Our prayers do more to align us with God than they do to align God with us. All we can do is be obedient and have faith that if God is asking us to do something, even if we cannot immediately see the good that will come from it, there's a very good chance your obedience to Him will pay off.

If you have any stories of times when the LORD showed up for you in a big way, last minute, I'd love to hear them. God is good and though He is rarely early, He is always right on time when we need Him most.

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. (Psalms 27:14)