DIFFERENT OUTCOMES WITH SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES
Our day-to-day experiences are replete with situations where we are surprised by different outcomes in similar situations. Be it a game, or business dealings, or career, or marriage among other things, what works for one person might not for another. An example from the Bible is worth examining.
To him who divided the Red Sea asunder
His love endures forever.
and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.
but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever. (Psalms 136:13-15)
This is an example that had a disastrous outcome for Pharaoh’s army, but provided deliverance for Israel. No one in their right mind would expect the waters of a sea to hold up as walls with a path to tread upon, yet that is what God performed for the Israelites as they were led out of Egypt. Their cries for deliverance were heard by the God they served and when they set out in obedience, the sea parted to give them dry land to walk upon. Yet, the Egyptians who looked on with amazement, did the unthinkable- they pursued the Israelites despite this being a miracle, expecting the sea to remain parted. The waters instead closed over them and swallowed them up.
God does show favoritism and not without reason. When a person or a nation aligns with the God of all creation, circumstances begin to work in their favor. That’s fair and square- God cannot be accused of being partisan. It is a man who aligns himself with the flow of the universe that finds circumstances working in his favor.
This is also a reflection of God’s love which the Psalmist points out repeatedly in this Psalm. His love endures forever. He promises never to abandon his children and those that commit to following him. No circumstance can be too intimidating nor any challenge too great.
Far too often a disciple looks at the world around him and pre-determines the outcome based on what he sees with the secular world. We are called to lift up our eyes of faith and see what cannot be seen and embrace what might crush others. God is greater than all of these and will guide us to safety and abundance, even if the outcome might be different for the rest of the world.
