Hi! Continuing our series, we’re back in Exodus 14…
KEY POINT from Sarah:
With the Egyptian army behind them and the uncrossable Red Sea in front them, the Israelites were scared. They ask Moses:
“Weren’t the cemeteries large enough in Egypt so that you had to take us to the wilderness to die?”
It’s only in that moment – their lowest point, totally trapped and scared – that God can come through. He divides the Red Sea!
It is only in the difficult times that God can exceed our expectations.
SNAPSHOT from Rachel:
I realised when I re-read Sarah’s notes for this point that what she is talking about is the opposite of disappointment. When reality EXCEEDS expectations, that is the opposite/inverse of expectations exceeding reality (which, in Day 1, we said was the definition of ‘disappointment’) .
So I googled ‘what is the opposite of disappointment?’ and found that our language doesn’t have a specific word for it!
The ‘word hippo’ came up with a good long list of very positive antonyms though: ‘satisfaction’, ‘blessing’, ‘comfort’, ‘delight’, ‘encouragement’… but the best one: MIRACLE! And that word describes what happened when God made a path through the Red Sea!
The miracles going on in your life may not involve the displacement of millions of gallons of water but they will certainly be things which exceed your expectations!
SUM UP:
It is only in the difficult times that God can exceed our expectations.
(And… how exciting that I have just stumbled upon the fact that the lack of a direct antonym for ‘disappointment’ bothered C. S. Lewis, too?! Apparently, he once said: ‘We badly need a word for ‘the-exact-opposite-of-disappointment. Appointment won’t do.’
I agree, Mr Lewis! He is a great man to agree with! Thank you, Google!)
See you back here in a couple of days.
Click here and scroll to the bottom of the page if you want to catch up on days 1-3.