United Methodist Advocate - Connecting Methodists in South Carolina Since 1837

I never get tired of reading or hearing again the stories of our faith. God is right in there with folks. Whether it is the account of a young David, who took down the mighty Goliath and all the Philistine army with one smooth stone and a simple sling, or the courage of a woman desperate to get well touching only the hem of his garment and Jesus noticed, or a seasoned fisherman named Peter walking atop the waves, or the waters of the Red Sea parting just long enough for the Israelites to cross to safety, the same basic plot unfolds again and again. God reaches into the middle of our struggles and accomplishes what seems impossible.

Even people of faith need to be reminded to keep the faith. After retelling the story of their deliverance from Egypt, Moses repeats his main point one more time in Deuteronomy 7. Moses declares, “God wasn't attracted to you and didn't choose you because you were big and important – the fact is, there was almost nothing to you. He did it out of sheer love, keeping the promise he made to your ancestors. God stepped in and mightily brought you back out of that world of slavery, freed you from the iron grip of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know this: God, your God, is God indeed, a God you can depend upon. He keeps his covenant of loyal love with those who love him and observe his commandments for a thousand generations.”

This week I was amazed to hear a man say he could trace his family back 24 generations. He has done a lot of research. However you choose to estimate the years in one generation, a thousand generations is a very long time. And God, our God plans to be with us every minute along the way. That is a promise.
During this month, many of us will read or hear again the stories of those last days for Jesus. Jesus told his disciples exactly what was going to happen. It is one thing to accidentally find you are in a mess. It is a very different thing to know exactly what you are walking into. He knew what was ahead, and Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem anyway. He was the original purpose-driven life.

In January, a group of us from South Carolina retraced the steps of Jesus in Palestine and Israel. Visiting the Holy Land puts the biblical stories of faith in context. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus had a heart-to-heart conversation with God. Predicting what is going to happen, does not make it any easier to go through it. Knowledge does not diminish real life pain. I cannot begin to imagine the anguish Jesus felt as he prayed, “My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want – what do you want?”

When life becomes difficult, it is important to remember that our God is a Way Maker. When the way is strenuous, when times are tough, when it seems like all hope is lost, God will make a way. It will not always be the way we would like it to be, but God does make a way. The way to life and victory was through the cross. It was terrible, it was painful, and yet it was the way.

Hindsight is always clear. Knowing what we know of the wonderful miraculous resurrection of Jesus, we know that the cross was the only way to get to Easter. It did not make sense to those going through it at the time. But as resurrection people, we can see more clearly God’s wonderful plan.

I keep hearing these are uncertain times. I think that is true of any time. To a great extent we do not know what the future holds. We do know that our God is God indeed. We do know that God can be counted on to make the way forward. And if history is any indication, the future will be more wonderful than anything we could ever have imagined or hoped for. I believe with all my heart that our God is a Way Maker.