When the Jews fled Egypt and were being feverishly pursued by Pharaoh’s soldiers, God remained between the two forces as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. As the Jews approached the Red Sea, God rolled back the waters with the hand of Moses and the Jews crossed the sea on dry land. When the Jews had reached the other side safely, Pharaoh’s army was walking on the same miraculous path that should be covered in salt water. Moments later it was, as the waves came crashing down, destroying every last soldier. At the bottom of the Red Sea, chariot wheels thousands of years old still sit, a testament to the Lord’s miraculous hand. A short time later, with Moses on Mount Horeb receiving the Ten Commandments from God, those same Jews who had seen two of the Lord’s most ostentatious miracles, were creating a golden calf to worship! How can we forget His miracles that quickly?
Most if not all of us who walk with the Lord can look back and see similar behavior in our own lives, when God delivered us yet again with a miracle, and shortly after, we once again wallowed in sin. Just as a pig loves to wallow in mud, our desperately wicked hearts continue to be drawn to sin.
As a dog returns to his own vomit,
So a fool repeats his folly.
Proverbs 26:11
The verse from Proverbs is a graphic, yet representative example of our relationship with sin. Sin doesn’t taste good, and there certainly isn’t any nutritional value in it. As much as it hurts us, we find ourselves in that position often. Yet our God of mercy and grace keeps forgiving us. That is a miracle in itself! It is difficult to understand that kind of unconditional love, as it is so far removed from the kind of love we typically have for each other.
2“I have loved you,” says the LORD.
“Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’
Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?”
Says the LORD.
“Yet Jacob I have loved;
3But Esau I have hated,
And laid waste his mountains and his heritage
For the jackals of the wilderness.”
Malachi 1:2-3
God chose you before the foundations of the earth. He didn’t choose you for what you would accomplish for Him. He could have chosen anyone for any task, or simply, done the task Himself. He chose you for His reasons. If you are His, you have won the lottery! Yet it doesn’t end there. Not only are you forgiven. Not only do you get to spend eternity with Jesus. Not only is He living inside of you even now. Yet He continues to perform miracles in your life every single day. Have you ever noticed that the seemingly small miracles can have a greater impact than the larger miracles? When I think of the mobs that witnessed the healings of Jesus, and then remember how few people were following Jesus at the time of His crucifixion, I am reminded of the fickle nature of humans. Signs and wonders point to the power of the Lord, but to me, the sweetest time is when He does something special, personal and small. It reminds me how intricately He is woven into my life. It also tells me how well He knows me and how much He loves me.
1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.
19 Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!
Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
20 For they speak against You wickedly;
Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:1-24
You’ve never been loved like this before! Truly, what do we have to fear?
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