God of the Impossible and the Impassable
Was it not Thou that didst make the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? (Isaiah 51:10)
Isa. 51:2, 3, 10, 11; Exo. 14:13-31; Ps. 27:1; Isa. 12:2, 25:9; Zeph. 3:17; Matt. 28:15; Phil. 4:13
What Is God Saying?
These words of encouragement were timely and fitting for the people of Israel. They came at a time when they were still trying to shake off the demeaning effects of the exile. They were discouraged and confused. Gloom had settled on the land. The task of restoring glory to Zion and turning Jerusalem, now in ruins, into the great city it once was seemed impossible. Their hearts were heavy. They needed to be told that their joy and greatness were not all in the past. God could penetrate the impassable and overcome the impossible.
So Isaiah said, ‘You worry about being so small and few- Abraham was only one, yet from him, I made a great nation. The Lord will bless Israel again. Joy and gladness will be yours again. Thanksgiving and lovely songs will be heard. The ransomed will all come home.’ Isaiah then completes his message of hope, saying, ‘Are you not the same today, the mighty God who dried up the sea, making a path right through it for his ransomed ones?’ (Isa. 51:2, 3, 10, 11 LB).
How Does This Apply To Us?
As Isaiah said to the Israelites, the Holy Spirit reminds us, ‘God is still the same today.’ He can and will dry up seas of trouble and make a path through anything that blocks our way if we are going His way. We need not be hounded by fears and worries that crowd in upon us from behind. We need not be intimidated by impossible and impassable barriers that are ahead. God knows all about it. He cares about it because He cares about us. We are His ransomed. We are of great value to Him. He who made the universe will not be rendered helpless by a sea, even a great sea. Our problems, our fears, and our worries are no match for God’s will, God’s love, and God’s power.
In His will, no task is impossible, and no way is impassable. God, ‘still the same today,’ will make a path for His ransomed through it all. ‘I, even I, am he that comforts you and gives you all this joy. So what right have you to fear mortal men, who wither like the grass and disappear? (Isa. 51:12, LB).
Pray With Me
God of the impossible and the impassable, thank You that the depths of any sea can become a way for the redeemed. Facing the great banner before them and hearing the threatening rumble of chariots behind them, Your people stood still. They could see the Egyptians behind them. They saw no way of escape, but soon came something greater than their enemies, greater than all their fears. A way opened where there was no way; ’a way for the redeemed to pass over.’
You did it then, Lord. On thier day of fear, day of need, day of testing beyond which there could certainly be no more days, You made the ‘depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over.’ For me as well, Your arm is not shortened that it cannot save. Do the problems ahead seem beyond my depth? Are the challenges I face too much for me to handle? Let me rest in this: You can transform the depths of the sea into a way for the redeemed to pass over. You can do the impossible.
Through Jesus Christ, my strength and my Redeemer, Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
When we kneel before God, let us be confident that nothing is too great for His power and nothing is too little for His concern. If something big is weighing on our hearts (sin confessed but not forgotten or a decision that would change the direction of our life), He is the God of the impossible. If we are struggling with accumulated little problems, God cares about that. God cares about us. ‘He feeds the birds of the air.’ He is the same today, the mighty God who made a pathway through the sea.
