“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Psalm 46:1“ ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’ ”
Isaiah 55:8, 9
It would seem then, that if we are not in harmony with God’s ways, one of us will have to change if we are going to be together. Which do you suppose is the one to change?
So this is the question for each of us, “Am I willing to be changed so that I will think and do as God thinks and does?
Escape from Egypt
David was thinking specifically of the Red Sea experience when he said: “Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters, and Your footsteps were not known. You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” Psalm 77:19, 20
When we study the geography of the path that the children of Israel took when they left Egypt, we see that they were guided by God in the pillar of cloud on a course which never would have taken them to the Red Sea at all.
Following a straight line out of Egypt would have led them on a path above the Red Sea, but after they had traveled a short distance from Egypt, God deliberately changed their course, angling them back by a round-about road to the Red Sea. Many, maybe even Moses himself, must have wondered why God was leading them in such a circuitous route. Then, they found themselves hemmed in by mountains on each side, the sea in front of them, and an army of angry Egyptians close behind.
There were two problems as the Israelites camped there on the seashore. One was the sea in front of them, a seemingly impassible barrier. The other, was the Egyptian army behind them, an enemy that they believed they could not defeat. God’s path went right through this impassible barrier to strengthen the faith of the Israelites, and then used it as a graveyard for the seemingly-unconquerable enemy. Upon reaching the far side, the children of Israel sang the song of victory to God found in Psalm 77. Did Israel understand what God intended to do? No. Why? If they had known it would not have been a test of their faith. Did the Egyptians know what God was going to do? Of course not. If they had, they would not have followed. So, even though neither God’s chosen nor His enemies understood His plan, He had one. A miraculous plan that despite the difficulty, provided the way to freedom.
“Are You not the One who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that made the depths of the sea a road for the redeemed to cross over?” Isaiah 51:10
“I will make each of My mountains a road, and My highways shall be elevated.” Isaiah 49:11
All across this country, engineers annually spend thousands of hours and millions of dollars plotting highways that avoid mountains and other geographical obstacles as much as possible. But God says through the prophet Isaiah that He will use the most impossible situations, the most impassible barriers, and make them highways on which His remnant people may travel to victory. It may be an impassible sea or an ocean that stretches out before us, or the walls of a high mountain range that seem to defy scaling. God says to us, “Follow My providence and I will make a way for you.” If we will believe, it will make us utterly immune to discouragement. And He backs that promise by giving us examples of His faithfulness.
“All these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1 Corinthians 10:11
“Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us of which we know nothing.” The Ministry of Healing, 481
“Jesus sees the end from the beginning. In every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief.” The Desire of Ages, 330
So let me ask, is it worthwhile to experience difficulty so that we can know that God provides the way out and through? The way out of Egypt was through the Red Sea. As the children of Israel stood, looking back in fear at the advancing Egyptian army, God parted the water and made a way for over a million people, their livestock, and all their possessions—on dry land, mind you—to reach the other side before allowing the water to return on its course burying their enemy behind them.
Yes, friends, our heavenly Father has a multitude of ways for providing for us that we know nothing about and would likely be unable to comprehend even if we knew them. If we will accept the principle of making the service of God supreme, we will find that perplexities will vanish and there will be a plain path before our feet.
Since we have this assurance, we need not lament the difficulties we encounter in this life, but rather we must look for God’s solutions. Moses didn’t know at first what to do. But he had learned to wait on the Lord to see how He would use the circumstances as they existed. So he called upon God, and then told the people to stand still and see the salvation of God (Exodus 14:13, 14). And presently, God instructed Moses to stretch his rod out over the sea, and it opened up.
“We should seize upon circumstances as instruments by which to work.” The Ministry of Healing, 500. Many would have looked at this situation and seen nothing with which to work. There was no bridge, no boats, no logical way to get across. It appeared to man as hopeless. And he would be right without the promise of God to help His people. We are hopelessly lost, and there is no way possible for us to overcome the difficulties of this life on our own. But Moses looked to God and obeyed His direction, and the difficulty itself became the way of escape. In this same way, every difficulty we may encounter, God has a way prepared to bring relief.
“Press with determination in the right direction, and circumstances will be your helpers, not your hindrances.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 332
The Red Sea, the mountains, the Egyptians were all hindrances, but God led the children of Israel to the one place where those hindrances would become a helper to His people, and He will do the same for us. So, if we find ourselves in a difficult situation, rather than weeping and moaning and saying, “O Lord, why did You ever let me get into this situation?” say, “Dear Lord, I don’t know what Your purpose is, but I know You will make something wonderful out of this. Show me what I must do.”
Standing on the shore of the Red Sea there wasn’t much that the children of Israel could do but show their faith in God’s promise by simply stepping into the water. It wasn’t much, just that one step forward, but it was important for them to show their faith. In that one step they committed to doing the impossible. This is righteousness by faith, and by obedience to God and faith in His promise, they achieved the impossible.
We cannot lie down on a bed or sit in a chair waiting and hoping that someday by some strange, unusual miracle we will wake up and find that we are all ready for heaven. We are to ask Jesus to help us to take hold of a situation as it is, and, by faith, carry out His commands confident that He will help us. We will never find ourselves in any situation but that Jesus has already made arrangements to use it for our good and His glory. We must seize the circumstances as instruments with which to work, and then press with determination in the right direction, and then the circumstances become our helpers, not our hindrances.
The Mighty, Raging River
Some time ago, I was riding along the Frazier River in western Canada. As we drew near the end of our journey, we would have to cross the river, but the Frazier River is a mighty, roaring stream, and there was no motor boat, canoe, or sailboat that could cross it. But there was a way, and the very current of that river, strong and mighty as it was, was the way across.
The way across the Frazier River was by ferry. The ferry is not powered by a gasoline motor, steam engine, or electricity. The ferry runs by the power of the river itself. By a specific arrangement of cables and wheels strung high above the river, this barrier that stands between you and the other side, has been harnessed to take you across. A cable reaches from one side to the other while another cable secures the ferry to the cable above, keeping the ferry from being swept downstream. But still, how does the ferry get across?
Two levers on the ferry control two great paddles, one on each side of the ferry. With these paddles, the pilot is able to direct the ferry to one side of the river and back again. Depending on which paddle you let down into the river, the very pressure of that water as it roars down the river against the paddle turns the ferry in the direction to go across. Raising that paddle and letting down the other allows the ferry to return to the opposite side.
Man has seized upon circumstances as instruments with which to work and thus accomplishes his purpose. The obstacle that the river creates is solved by harnessing its power and using it to the needed end. What a lesson. Instead of allowing the raging river to be an obstacle, a way was found to use the obstacle—the river—to help them cross it, no matter how impossible it appeared to be.
So, whatever difficulty I encounter in my life I don’t stand there weeping, I don’t look back at where I’ve been; I look to Jesus with a faith that just knows something wonderful will come of it. I must learn that the solutions to my difficulties today are not found in my past or even in my future. What I need today to face this life is the guiding hand of my Lord and Saviour. Only He can give me sense enough to learn how to seize upon circumstances as instruments with which to work.
Experiences in Faith
When the three Hebrews were standing on the threshold of the fiery furnace they didn’t know what God was going to do, but they knew He had said, “Those who honor Me, I will honor.” (1 Samuel 2:30, last part). They determined to take God at His word and to be true to Him whether they lived or died in that furnace. But God took that furnace and used it to destroy those who threw them into the furnace, and the ropes that bound them. He used the circumstances to liberate the Hebrew young men and to bring conviction to the king of Babylon, who, after a number of other experiences, was finally converted (Daniel 4:34–37).
The men in authority in Darius’ Persia hated Daniel. So, they schemed against him by making a law that prohibited everyone from praying to anyone but the king. They made the law because they knew Daniel would be faithful in praying to God, and would not pray to the king; and they were right. Daniel kept right on praying to his God three times a day facing toward Jerusalem (Daniel 6). As a result, Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den. Daniel obeyed God rather than men, and the lions didn’t hurt him. And God used Daniel’s difficulty as the instrument by which God destroyed all the men who had plotted against Daniel.
Haman was one of Satan’s wicked servants plotting against the people of God. He planned to harm the Jews and hang Mordecai. He had already prepared a gallows on which to hang him. But God used Esther as a solution to this difficulty, and it was Haman who was hanged on the gallows rather than Mordecai. We find many examples in the Bible of God using circumstances to bring about solutions.
God keeps His promise to help His children, but sometimes He also allows them to suffer. During the Dark Ages, millions of people were martyred for their faith, but not because God had forgotten or forsaken them, nor because this principle failed. Every one of the souls who went down in death won more people by their death than they would have by their life. And in the kingdom of God they will be able to see the harvest that their death produced and will clap their hands for joy that their witness in death was used to testify to the power and the love of Jesus and to the strength of His law.
Friends, there is nothing—nothing—that stands in the way of the man who is devoted to God. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1, 2
Faith Fosters a Solution
One of our students at Wildwood, a young lady from Nicaragua whom I will call “Mary,” had some experiences in which the Lord had used her while she still lived in Nicaragua. Mary was the only Seventh-day Adventist in her family, and in Nicaragua a great majority of the people are members of the Roman Catholic Church, as it is in many Latin American countries. But the Lord blessed Mary with some precious experiences in standing—sometimes completely alone—for truth.
Mary decided to take a three-year secretarial course at a Catholic college in Nicaragua. During the last three months of the course study, a group of priests came to the college. There was a strong Catholic influence as all the teachers and the three hundred students were Catholic, except for Mary. She was the only non-Catholic.
The time soon came when all the young people were expected to give confession to the priests, but Mary did not go. The headmistress of the college called her to her office and asked her why she wasn’t a Catholic. Mary answered that she was very happy as a member of the Seventh-day Adventist church. The headmistress suggested to Mary that if she would become a Catholic her parents would not have to know. But Mary told her that she could not lie because whatever she did must be in harmony with truth, so she would not do what the headmistress suggested.
One day Mary went to class and discovered that final exams for all of her subjects were scheduled on three different Sabbaths. She went to the dean of the college, and told him that she was a Seventh-day Adventist and would not be able to take her exams on the Sabbath. The dean said that he could not change the schedule. Mary went home and told her aunt and uncle and they prayed together for the Lord’s help.
The next day Mary went to the pastor of the church and asked for his counsel. He told her the decision was entirely up to her as a matter of conscience. So she very earnestly prayed asking God to solve this problem for her so that she might remain true and faithful to Him.
The Sabbath for Mary’s final exam in bookkeeping came, but, as was her custom, she went to church just like Jesus did. When she got home, she found, to her great surprise, a group of her classmates waiting for her. They were very happy to tell her that there had been no exams that day because the people in charge of administering them had gotten drunk the night before and were unable to give them. So, her exam that had been scheduled for that Sabbath had been postponed until the next day, Sunday.
Being so upset about how things seemed to be working out, Mary had not been able to study much, but this news gave her courage and she studied late into the night to be ready for the next day’s exam. As she began the exam, she found that she was not nervous as she usually was when taking exams, but instead experienced a peace she had never known before. She finished the exam in good time and got the highest grade. But she still faced the problem of two more exams, each one to come on an upcoming Sabbath.
She continued praying and trusted that God would again help her. When the next Sabbath came she went to church. After church the same students were waiting for her on the porch of her home. As before, they were very happy, but they said they didn’t quite understand why all these things were happening, but the teacher who was to have charge of the exam that day had to have an emergency operation in the hospital that morning. And again the exam was postponed until the next day, Sunday. Mary went, as she had the week before, to take her typewriting exam, and once again received the highest grade in the school.
Mary’s third and last exam in shorthand was also scheduled for Sabbath. She had continued praying all week. She went to church on Sabbath and for a third time, when she got home there were her classmates waiting at the door of her home. They said that only the power of God could have worked things out because this time it was the same as it had been the first Sabbath. Those in charge of the exam were drunk from a festival the night before, so the exam had been postponed until the next day, Sunday. When Mary went to take the exam, she again finished first and received the highest grade.
Mary, her fellow classmates, the dean, and headmistress of the college, now could clearly see that God had worked miraculously on her behalf, that Matthew 21:22 had truly been fulfilled in her life. “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
The God who opened the Red Sea and delivered the children of Israel from the Egyptians, who preserved three faithful, young men in the fiery furnace and changed the heart of a king in the process, who saved Daniel from being lunch for a group of lions and the Jews from Haman the hangman, and changed circumstances so that a young, faithful woman would be able to take her exams on Sunday rather than the Sabbath, is still at work today. May we learn His way which is so much different from our own. How much better it is to do what God says and then wait for God to make a way through our difficulties.
“Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service of God supreme, will find perplexities vanish and a plain path before their feet.” The Ministry of Healing, 481
Elder W.D. Frazee studied the Medical Missionary Course at the College of Medical Evangelists in Loma Linda, California. He was called to Utah as a gospel medical evangelist. He founded the Wildwood Medical Missionary Institute in 1942. He believed that each person is unique, specially designed by the Lord.