I made it no farther than the street corner before the wind and rain began to penetrate all my defenses. There was no escape for me; no other option but to press forward. My hair now soaked, I crossed the street, evading taxis, as the water began to trickle down the back of my neck under a long sleeve shirt and raincoat. By the end of the street, my heavy trekking pants had become damp. The next street over, they were soaked down to my boxers; my hiking shoes, soaked through my socks. I ducked under an awning on the street to drip for a few minutes.
I had known. All day I had known. From my seat in Arabic class I had watched the rain drench my world. All day long.Emerging from the water, he began to climb the mountain of sand. His knees ached under the strain of eighty years of journeying. Staff in hand, he made his way to the peak of the sand dune. The exhausting flight was complete, he was the first of two million to ascend this final hill. Turning to look upon a great multitude of fathers, brothers, children, and mothers, he took great delight as they summited the beach and moved to set up camp on the open plain beyond.
His whole life had led him to this moment. From an unorthodox childhood to years of shepherding, every experience had proven providentially necessary to prepare him to lead the greatest escape in history. The time had finally come. Had he been a few years younger even this moment would have been but a vapor stolen away by the wind of his own foolish pride. He knew enough about life to understand that Yahweh works to the glory of no man. Everything before him resulted from nothing less than the great and wonderful grace of the One whom he called El Shaddai. Yes, El Shaddai deserved all the praise for the dry passage now covered in endless footprints as far as the eye could see.
Unstoppable. Even under the awning, the wind and rain had singled me out. A swimming pool could have produced a drier result. Everything rushed back amidst the torrent of wet and cold that engulfed me. It was 7:30 when the alarm buzzed bringing to consciousness the cold my body had known throughout the night. Shivering, I had fought to wrap myself tighter, wringing out the last drops of warmth from the blankets. This cold had been far better than what awaited me outside my cocoon. For a half hour I watched my cell phone considering all the necessary factors involved in preparing to go to class. Finally the time came. I rushed to dress hoping to take some edge off the inescapable cold.
For weeks I had been cold. Cold on the street. Cold in class. Cold in my bed.
Far off, a peculiar haze had risen. A cloud of dust in the distance rising to the clear, blue sky. As the people filed over the beach, the afternoon heat was beginning to take its toll. Their pace had slowed significantly. But the dust cloud crept nearer. Could this be some other wonder? From his judgment, this cloud seemed altogether unrelated to the people's wanderings, for it rose from a portion of road they had passed by very early in the day.
A sharp cry caught his attention. Removing his gaze from the horizon, he discovered a sheep caught in the spokes of a wagon wheel. Instinctively, he moved at once to the helpless animal as the rest of the herd stood by in an ignorant daze. Three small boys had gathered to throw pebbles at the defenseless animal. At the sight of him they turned their eyes to the ground before running off to find other trouble. He parted the herd to examine the frantically bleating sheep. His very touch calmed the animal. With a firm hold, he turned the head to the proper angle and safely removed the shivering beast from the snares of the wagon. The sheep stumbled off to join the others soon to forget the whole ordeal.
From the very beginning, this day had looked to be another miserable, rainy day. Cold. Wet. Sniffles. For two weeks I had praised God for good health and asked for that to be the norm. When the stomach pressure hit, everything went downhill. For the past four weeks I have endured a constant onslaught. Stomach cramps. Respiratory infection. Allergy problems. Sick and tired had become the norm.
With his attention free, he returned his attention to the growing cloud. It was not far off now. A commotion began to stir amongst the people as a quiet rumbling came into earshot. Like approaching lightning as it ricochets off the walls of a canyon, the sound seemed to build, surrounding the people. This looming mass began to move faster, now accompanied by faint shouts and curses. The sound of battle cries and horse hooves struck fear into the people as they quickly scrambled toward the camp.
Uncertainty and fear grew inside him, but an unspoken strength left his posture unchanged. Closer by the minute, this new force came, fully prepared to engage every defenseless man, woman, and child in its path. A small army was beginning to gather in the camp; too little, too late. The last of his people now climbed the mountain.
Doubling the pace, I was eager to make the 25 minute walk a few steps shorter. How much easier this would be if we could just find a permanent apartment. The week's prospects had been less than pleasing. To date, our best permanent housing option crawled with the black mold that had given me such problems already. Could it be too much to ask for our own apartment? Could it be too much to ask for a place where I might breathe right again? Where would we go upon our friends return from Spain after having their baby?
Sword drawn, the enemy commander charged forward. Legions followed. Enough to wipe out ten cities. Atop this mountain of sand he remained, boldly bearing the awesome power of El Shaddai. With the last of his people safely over the beach, he firmly held out his staff. A gift from his father-in-law, Jethro, the staff had seen better days. Carved from acacia wood, its sweet aroma often recalled pleasing memories of his family and flock back home. The staff wound a tight spiral from his feet to the natural knot that rounded the top. Gripping with all his might, Moses dropped this knot, and with it towering walls of suspended water, to the dry earth at his feet.
Only in stories of the great flood had anything been comparable. Before his very eyes, two 100 foot walls of water fell top-down. An avalanche drowning the war cries of tens of thousands of approaching Egyptians. Looking out over the waves, the ensuing silence gripped him. He stood, unmoved, as motionless bodies slowly appeared, floating on the surface. Bodies that drifted aimlessly no longer to heed the orders of commanding officers. Victory had been assured.
Paul writes in I Corinthians 9:27, "but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified."How much discipline must one have to not be disqualified? How much grumbling does it take to arouse the judgment of a holy God. Paul ran to win the prize. He was cold, often. He was sick, often. He was frustrated, often. Did he not, a time or two, like Jesus, possibly say "Lord, take this cup from me!" Yet, the following response was always like to "not my will, but your will be done."
Paul then warns the Corinthians, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall." (I Cor 10:12) He points his audience to the example of Israel. Any Jew living at this time had known that 1900 years ago God miraculously saved His people from Egypt. Jewish history is replete with praises for and rememberings of this great saga. But what Paul aims to show is not the greatness of Israel in the midst of God's deliverance. These very Israelites who witnessed the great might of El Shaddai turned to idols, immorality, and grumbling against the Lord.
Paul's warning is as much to himself as to his friends in Corinth. "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall." My grumbling gets me nowhere. My idol of comfort crashes before a holy God. My demands for warmth, good health, and stability are disgusting in the sight of God.
By what evidence can I deduce that I deserve to be warm and dry?
Where is it written that I am entitled to good health?
Who am I to grumble when there is no stability?
Paul struggled often, but took his cares to God. He found his solace in the beauty and wonder of a Savior who has provided every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
Today was a major grumble day for me. Today I steered clear of my Bible. Today I just wanted to hate the world. Another hard day living in Africa. But that is no reason to give up. There is nothing that should ever come between my Savior and me. It is to Him that I run. It is in His comfort that I find rest.
Today was a failure. And Jesus redeemed all my failures on the cross. There is no standing without Him.
"Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." - I Corinthians 10:12-13
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