Advent Devotions

Today’s author is Prince of Peace member Ruth Hangander.

Exodus 14:5-7, 10-14, 21-29

Wade in the water
Wade in the water children
Wade in the water
God is gonna trouble these waters.

The lyric in this song recalls Exodus 14 where God parts the Red Sea and Israelites cross the Jordan River into freedom. Harriet Tubman used these lyrics to instruct slaves to trudge through water so that dogs chasing them would lose their scent. The verses of the song draw parallels to the Israelites fleeing slavery in Egypt and then the parting of the Red Sea. In Exodus, God carves out a bridge through troubled waters. Imagine walls of water stories high on either side of you, maybe sharks. The Israelites had to cross the sandy bottom in faith that those walls of water would hold until they got to the other side. Can you imagine how frightening that was? Would you have wanted to be the first to cross? The Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians. Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians and the Israelites then believed in the Lord and his servant Moses.

The story reminds us that God moves in the chaos of life to bring healing and freedom. I have a personal story that happened when I was 12 years old and my brother was 10. My parents had a friend spending time with us at the cabin. We experienced a water crisis. My parents went off to get supplies and instructed us kids to entertain Helen. My brother and I thought Helen would enjoy a ride on the lake, and she assumed we were experienced. We got in the rowboat, pushed off from shore and began rowing. We were soon in the middle of the lake and suddenly were sucked into a whirlpool.  We paddled and paddled and got nowhere, just kept going around in a circle. This was decades before cell phones. We panicked and were very short of muscle strength. Now we were frightened. Finally, our friend suggested we stop rowing and ask God for help. With a step of faith in this difficult situation, we trusted God to bring deliverance. God works miracles during moments of deep turmoil. Moments later a fisherman in a motor boat appeared. We called – he heard us. He tossed us a rope and with the miniscule strength of the three of us, pulled us to shore. We were on an unfamiliar shore, but we were safe.

The troubled waters of life, ups and downs happen, God is in the midst of turmoil. The challenge is to move confidently out into today’s chopping seas because God is troubling the waters. “Wade in the water” affirms that God stirs things up – something big!! “Wade in the Waters” calls active believers to take an active step of faith into difficult circumstances, trusting God to bring divine deliverance and healing to this diverse and troubled world.

Thank you God for help and hope
Wading waters and up the slope
Grant us strength to sing a song
Hands together standing strong. Amen